


The Fall of Rapture, The rise of Immorality

by immature_vibes



Category: Star Trek
Genre: Drabble, F/M, Fluff, Gay, How Do I Tag, Multi, Other, PTSD, Torture, Violence, ansgt, space dads, trigger warnings?
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-22
Updated: 2019-09-10
Packaged: 2020-07-10 11:31:34
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, No Archive Warnings Apply, Underage
Chapters: 9
Words: 42,687
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19905040
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/immature_vibes/pseuds/immature_vibes
Summary: Drizid Stevens is an average cadet at Star Fleet in the Yorktown Colony. He has the best grades in the medical field and is very popular among his fellow cadets. He meets the crew by chance, and from there he forms family like bonds with each and every one of them. When Drizid graduated, it was no surprise that he became Dr. McCoy’s Ensign. But Space isn’t as fun as Star Fleet made it out to be. Because here was Drizid. Staring up at the most threatening man in the universe. The only thing separating the two was a glass wall. Drizid put his hand on the glass. He could feel the coldness from the other side hit his palm. Drizid looked up at the man’s sleeping face. The half breed flinched his hand back from the glass pane as he watched the face twitch. Drizid stated in fear as the killers eyes snapped open and met his pale yellow ones. The glass pane lifted and he watched as the man stepped out of the pod and stare him down with electric blue eyes.“You know who I am, yet you set me free.”“It- it was an accident.” Drizid stammered out, stumbling backwards in terror.“Oh, boy,” Khan traced drizid’s face softly before gripping his neck dangerously tight, “all accidents happen for a reason.”





	1. The Beginning

The sun was peeking over Yorktown as Drizid changed into his Cadet Uniform. He wakes up earlier than he should, but he prefers to have more time on his hands then less. It gives him time to wander around the Colony before getting to his classes. The young man stared at his reflection in confidence. His walnut brown hair was parted a bit off center to the left and fluffed around his golden horns. He loved the way his horns twirled backwards and had a sharp point. It was the only trait from his mother that he liked on him. The trait he despised was his eyes. They were a pale yellow with a bright yellow pupil. They made him look angry. Which was the reason he always wore contacts. Brown ones, like his dads eyes. Giving himself a satisfied nod, he grabbed his shoulder bag and headed out of his dorm. It was 10:30 am, his first class didn’t start until 12:00 pm, but Drizid liked being able to waste time in the cafe down the street from his dormitory. He often bought a muffin and a black coffee there while he finished homework he couldn’t get to while he had a long night shift at the hospital. Today was no different as he waltzed into the cafe.  
“The usual, Stevens?” The Barista asked him.  
“Forever and always, Lucy.” Drizid answered as he took a seat near the window. When his food and drink came, he was finished with the reading he had to complete for one of his lectures. The coffee was fantastic as always, and it put a smile on the half breeds lips. He couldn’t imagine a life without this place.   
“Hey Stevens, ya see those two newbies over there? The ones at the middle table?” The barista, Lucy, asked him as she nodded her head to a man and a woman.  
“Yeah. They’re apart of the U.S.S Enterprise. Nyota Uhura and Pavel Chekov. Everyone knows who they are,” Drizid stated matter of factly, “why?”  
“Well, Chekov has been staring at you for the last fifteen minutes. Overheard a bit of their convo, I think he’s got a liking to you.”  
“Very funny, Helios. Don’t you have work to do?” Drizid rolled his eyes, turning his attention back to his book.  
“Fine, don’t believe me. But I have a plan. You don’t have your lecture on Anatomy today, right?”  
“Nope. Just a simulation on a Caradassian and an exam on pressure points and defense.”  
“Leave your anatomy book here. If he picks it up and asks where you went so he can return it, ask him out. If he doesn’t, forget you ever met him.”  
“That’s stupid.”  
“Or out of the box thinking.”  
Drizid ended up leaving his text book on the table as he left for his lectures. The idea in of itself was dumb. His friend had to have been mistaken. Because there was no way that the navigator of the U.S.S Enterprise had an eye out for him. A cadet who was graduating in four months. Drizid shook away any thought of the possibility. He had lectures to go to and applications for ships to fill out. He was too busy to focus on the possibility of a date. But the thought of getting a friend that didn’t use him for popularity was a nice thought to have. It didn’t help Drizid in the fact that he was the only Cardassian/human at his school, as well as being at the top of all of his classes. Many of his school friends just hang around him catch the eyes of other cadets. Which is stupid, because once you’re on a ship ‘college popularity’ won’t matter when you have to save a life of a crew member. The brunet shook his head and walked into his school, taking a left into the simulation room.  
“Alright Cadets, this is a simulation surgery, lead by Cadet Stevens,” The speakers said and everyone looked at Drizid immediately, “background information is the following: The Cardassian came back from a mission and is in critical condition. She has been impaled in the stomach with a poison blade. The poison is unknown. Her liver is filled with said poison and she has an hour left. Listen to Dr. Stevens as you try to save her life.” With that, the speakers turned off and the simulation began.  
“Heart rate at 115 beats and dropping, Dr. Stevens.” A cadet said.  
“Clear the wound. Mrs. Lanna, pass me the scalpel,” Drizid opened his hand to the cadet who put the utensil in his hand instantly. Drizid’s hands worked slow as he cut into the liver and placed the scalpel back in Mrs. Lanna’s hands, “Extract the poison. From the chemicals in it create an antidote.” He spoke, voice calm.  
The poison was a mixture of moonlust and nightshade. The antidote was a simple one, mix together the pollen of a magnolia flower and vitamin D&E with the chemicals decahydrate and perborate. The surgery was the more challenging part. Cutting open a liver was easy, healing it was another. Once the organ is cut open it only takes twenty minutes for the liver to become infected by the oxygen. As Cardassians find breathing in oxygen difficult, if they have it in their system for to long it can cause internal damage. Which was another reason to be even more precise than before. Drizid counted to himself and found that they had two minutes and fifty-three seconds before the oxygen killed the patient.  
“Mr. Vezca, the antidote.” Drizid demanded as the cadet shook his head, hands shaking.  
“Almost, Dr. Stevens.” Mr. Vezca answered, his hands spilling the mixture.  
“Mr. Benard, please take the antidote away from Mr. Vezca and remake it.”  
“Yes Doctor.”  
They had a minute and thirty-four seconds. Once Drizid had the antidote in his hands he wasted no time in using the heal scanner to stitch up the cut on the liver and the cut on the stomach. Drizid let out a sigh of relief as the lights in the simulation room went back to normal and he heard the speakers turn back on.  
“Well done, Cadets. You saved your crew members life. When a situation like this occurs, it is important to stay calm. Cadet Stevens, your assignment is to write a report on how you believe everyone did and turn that into your professor tomorrow. Everyone else will write a report on how Cadet Stevens did. Simulation dismissed.”  
The bunch of cadets left the room, laughing with one another. Drizid was the last one out of the room, staying back to clean up. He couldn’t help but think back to earlier that morning. He wondered if that navigator got his book. He wondered if it was just a wish. It was definitely the latter. As he left the room, he sighed and bashed himself for having the hope that something like that would happen for him. He left the room and went to the mess hall. He didn’t particularly like the food there, but it was probably better than the food in space. If you could call that food. He sat down next to a few of his friends who actually liked to hang around him.  
“How is Mr. Perfect today?” His friend, Lee asked him.  
“Mr. Perfect isn’t here at the moment. Please leave a message,” Drizid jokes, “I’ve been better, Lee.”  
“What’s wrong?” Amelia asked.  
“Nothing in particular, just a bit down.”  
After that, they tried to cheer him up best they could. They talked about some of the ships who’ve contacted them to be apart of their crew. Drizid told them about the ships who’ve reached out to him. He’d be lying if he said he wasn’t flattered by how many Captains wanted him to be their CMO, but the idea of all of the responsibility that came with the title turned him off of it. And the fact that he’d be thrown into it without any training other than being a doctor. He praised those who took on that challenge, he just didn’t feel ready for that just yet. Amelia knew what he meant. She was joining the ship U.S.S Washington as the Captains First Officer which was beyond scary for her. Lee was joining the U.S.S Enterprise as an engineer when she’s finished being fixed.   
“Lucky. I really wanted to join the Enterprise. An exploration ship sounded so fun.” Amelia pouted.  
“Yet you joined a military ship?” Drizid asked Amelia.  
“Well they didn’t send me an offer, and they already have a First Officer.” Amelia shrugged, eating her salad.  
“What about you? What ship are you gonna join?” Lee asked Drizid curiously.  
“I don’t know. All the ships that have contacted me want me as their CMO. I’d rather be an Ensign to one and then take on the responsibilities.” Drizid answered.  
The three went back to their classes after lunch. Drizid had an exam in medical and a physical exam for defense. The medical exam was easy, as it should be for him. The physical exam was harder for him. He knew that he would have a more bothersome time with. He was knocked down twice before finally beating his opponent. Thank god he knew where pressure points were on the body. Once his classes were over for the day he left the school with what he knew was a bruise forming on his left hip. He hated defense class. What caught his eye was a young man who wasn’t in uniform but was on campus. He was short, 5”8 at least. He had a curly top that faded into an undercut and had capturing crystal blue eyes. Drizid recognized him as the navigator from the U.S.S Enterprise. In his hands was a large text book.   
They locked eyes.  
Drizid waved and walked over to him. He walked over and they met in the middle.  
“You weft zhis in zhe cafe zhis morning.” He handed over the textbook.  
“Thank you, really. I was looking for it since then. What’s your name?” Drizid asked, although he already knew the answer.  
“Pavel Chekov, and you?”  
“Drizid Stevens. Hey, can I take you to coffee or something as a thank you?” Dear god please say yes.  
“Ah, zhat vould be vonderful.”  
Maybe he should give this a try after all.


	2. The Pleasure is Ours

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Drizid is struggling with a certain date on the calendar. Incidentally, Pavel reaches out to him asking if he'd want to go to dinner with him and some friends of his. Drizid thinks, "What could go wrong?"

The air was cold and brisk in Yorktown. The change in the temperature was the only way that the citizens knew of the seasons on Earth. They had pictures of snow and falling leaves and pollen, and hologramed the images from the glass atmosphere. But no one could feel it. They could only watch as the fake snow falls onto the ground. But something was better than nothing, Drizid decided. He had kept in close contact with Pavel ever since the meeting in the cafe a month ago. Currently, the two were roaming the nearly empty streets of Yorktown together. They laughed about stupid subjects of conversation and immitated each other’s accents. Drizid over pronounced his “R” and “V” while Pavel immated a cliche boston accent mixed with a britsh accent. It was offal.  
“I do not sound like that!” Drizid said between snickering with laughter, “my impression of you was better. Admit it.”  
“God, you zounded like zome bad actor.” Pavel beamed, lightly shoving Drizid.  
“Please, I would blend right in if I ever went to Mother Russia!” Drizid rolled his ‘r’ dramatically, causing Pavel to let out a wheeze.  
“Ve’d zhrow you out of zhe country before you let out a syllable.”  
The duo’s laughter died down as they began to reach Drizids dormitory. They both didn’t want him to go back to his dorm, but at the end of the day he was a Cadet in the middle of twelve exams and ship applications. Saying a soft goodbye, Drizid headed inside of the building and took the stairs up to his floor. He preferred to walk. Walk all the way up to the eighth floor. But that was fine. He unlocked his door and walked inside, flopping his book bag on the floor. He ran a hand through his silk like hair and let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding in. Treading to the bathroom of his dorm, he unbuttoned his uniform and dragged himself into the shower. The cold water hit his tan skin hard. Drizid hummed a bit as he washed his hair and cleaned his body. When the soap on his body was washed away, he turned off the water and wrapped a towel around his waist. Looking at himself in the mirror, he took out the beautiful brown contacts he had in during the day, leaving him to stare it the beedy yellow eyes he was born with. Shuddering at them, he walked into his bedroom and flopped onto the bed. The half breed looked over at his night stand at the pictures of his dad and mom and lightly touched his lips with his index and middle finger before placing those fingers on both pictures. A ghostly smile spread against the chapped lips as he turned over and fell into a coma like sleep.  
_“Drizid, we’re gonna be gone for a few weeks.” His mother said from where she was sitting on the couch._  
_“Why?”_  
_“Because we have to report to our stations for a rescue mission, little man.” His father groaned as he lifted Drizid in the air and sitting him between his mother and himself._  
_“Why?”_  
_“Because that’s our job. We work on a military ship.” His mother said._  
_“But my birthday is in three days. We were gonna go to the art museum.” Drizid looked down in cheerlessly._  
_“We know sweet pea, we know.”_  
Drizids eyes slowly opened as he stared at the window that was letting in the dawn light. He dreamed about them again. Pushing himself upright, he stretched his arms up. It was to early for this. He shook his head as a way to shake off the leftover sleep as the cadet stumbled into the small kitchen, pouring himself a bowl of cereal. He blankly stared at the food. When Drizid came back to reality, the breakfast was soggy and practically inedible. He huffed and poured the food into the sink and changed from his pj’s into his red uniform. He ran through his normal morning routine and was halfway out the door when he realized that it was a saturday. He didn’t have any classes. Grumbling about how stupid he was being, Drizid changed out of his uniform and contacts into a pair of black jeans, a white t-shirt, and a black denim jacket. He sat on the couch and played on his phone for a few hours until he got a text.

 **Pavel:** Hey, I know we hung out yesterday, but do you think that you could spare me a few hours in the evening?  
**Me:** sure. Why? I thought you had dinner with your crew tonight?  
**Pavel** : I do. I was wondering if you’d wanna come? Everyone there isn’t around my age and they treat me like a kid a lot of the time.  
**Me:** Yikes.  
**Pavel:** Are you able to make it?  
It wasn’t that he was avoiding the U.S.S Enterprise crew, he just was so sure that they’d find him stuck up and bratty. Because of who is parents were, Drizid’s name is pretty well known in the Capital of Yorktown. And if he just showed up, he didn’t want to imagine what they’d think of him.  
**Me:** I can spare a few hours. Where and When?

He had a soft heart at the end of the day. It wasn’t like he would actually know them. It was just a few hours. His tradition could wait a few hours. Right now, Drizid felt so tired. He did get woken up at the crack of dawn because he was an idiot and didn’t close his curtains. A short nap would do him more good than not. Closing his phone and putting it on the coffee table, he closed his eyes. It was just a small nap. Something so small wouldn’t hurt him.

_“Say goodbye to your parents, Drizzy.” His aunt said as Drizid’s parents stood before him in their uniforms._  
_“But they’ll be coming back,” Drizid responded, then he went up and hugged his parents, “when you get back, can we go to the museum?”_  
_“Of course, little man.” His dad said and ruffled his hair._  
_“We’ll be back before you know it, Drizzy.” His mother smiled down at him as they left him behind and boarded their ship._  
_Drizid’s uncle picked Drizid up with very little skill and put him on his shoulders so he could have a better view of the ship leaving the Colony. He smiled and thought to himself how his parents were so cool, to be Chief Engineer and Chief Navigator on a military ship in StarFleet. He was upset that they wouldn’t be with him on his birthday, but he would move past it because his parents were going to save a ship._  
_“Jonah, get Drizid out of here!” Drizid’s aunt screamed at his uncle._

His heart was beating a bit faster than normal, but nothing to be alarmed of. Drizid checked his phone to see what time it was. 16:44. Drizid swore under his breath as he tried to get up from the couch. He moved to fast and ended up falling off the couch and landing face first into the floor. Shaking off the fuzzy pain, he pushed himself off of the straw rug and rushed to change his shirt. They were eating at The Bravo, which was between fancy and fancy casual. He’s eaten there enough times to know. Racing to get his jacket and t-shirt off, he changed into a grey and white striped collared shirt with a nice grey leather jacket over it. He didn’t change his pants, as they were pretty normal. Stuffing his feet into his timberlands, he dashed out of his dorm like a mad man. It was only when he was halfway across the block when he realized it.  
He didn’t put his contacts in. And everyone could see his yellow eyes and gold pupil.  
He hoped that no one would notice them. Or just not comment on it. He felt a slight vibration from his phone.  
“I know, I’m a little late-”  
“Ah, so are ve. Zhat’s vhy I vas calling. To let you know zhat ve vill be awound ten minutes late.”  
“Same here, thank you for letting me know, Pavel.”  
He walked the rest of the way more calm than before. He kept his eyes down on the pavement unless it was a crosswalk. The Bravo was right in front of him. It’s grand stairs lead to long glass doors that had black metal bent around them like vines on a wall. The walls were made of glass and showed the inside of the restaurant. It had small round tables and long rectangular tables, all covered in warm white cloth. The seats where a soft white fabric with designs of vine leaves on them, gold legs holding them off the ground. Spectacular crystal chandeliers hung from the ceiling. And at the center back wall was the bar. It was a black marble table that had tall chairs just like shorter ones in front of it. The wall behind was also black marble and glass shelves showing off the expensive liquors the store owned. Drizid and his friends normally ate and drank here.  
“Drizid!” The half breed turned to the left, where he heard his voice. Pavel was walking a bit faster than the others to catch up to where Drizid was standing. He had on a mustard yellow turtleneck with a white denim jacket over it, wearing clean cut blue jeans, the cuffs rolled up a bit. Who the hell wouldn’t blush at the sight?  
“Pav-pavel, hi.” Drizid pinched himself to snap out of his daze and make eye contact with his friend.  
“Zhank you for being able to make it. Zhis is our pilot Zulu, Communicationz Officer Uhura, Chief Engineer Zcotty, Chief Medical McCoy, First Officer Zpock, and our Keptain Kirk.”  
“It’s a pleasure to meet you all.” Drizid hoped that they couldn’t see how nervous he was.  
“The pleasure is ours. Chekov’s told us a lot about you.” Kirk smiled and patted Drizid’s shoulder.  
‘Hopefully not much.’  
“Oh yeah? Like what?” Just smile and go along with it Stevens, pray it’s a compliment.  
“Highest grades in the medical section of Star Fleet in Yorktown. At seventeen too, that’s beyond impressive.” McCoy said, stepping out a bit with a smirk, “Plan on becoming a Doctor, Stevens?”  
_‘18.’_  
“Yes sir.” Drizid nodded. How do you respond when your idol, when your whole class’ idol is right in front of you and told you that your scores are impressive. Drizid froze and just nodded.  
“Keep it up, then.”  
Drizid had to bite back a smile of pride as they all walked into the restaurant and sat at one of the restaurant tables. Drizid was able to slip into the conversation rather easily, as they mostly asked about him.  
“So kid, how old were you when you got into StarFleet?” Jim asked.  
“Um, I think I must’ve been around… eleven? Yeah, eleven.” Drizid nods to himself.  
“Jesus, Chekov how old were you?” Scotty asked in disbelief.  
“Eleven.” Chekov answered the same and both kids high fived each other.  
“The two of you act like you’ve known each other for years.” Uhura amused.  
“Actually, we met after my classes. I left a textbook in a cafe and he returned it to me.” Drizid explained and he saw a twinkle cross Uhura’s eyes.  
“I remember! Chekov was so flustered when he saw you-”  
“Zhe vaitress is here!” Chekov interrupted, causing a fit of laughter among the crew.  
Everyone ordered either wine or a beer. When the waitress turned to Drizid, anyone would notice that her professionalism dropped slightly as a warmer smile began to spread across her soft baby blue skin.  
“The usual, Mr. Stevens?” She asked.  
“Put it on the rocks this time?” He said as she wrote something down and left.  
“Didn’t know the drinking age was seventeen here.” Uhura stated, but it was more of a question.  
“It’s not. It’s because of his Cardassian side. He’s able to take in more alcohol than the average twenty-one year old without getting a hangover. Because of this, Cardassians can start drinking at sixteen. But since he’s also part human, he had to wait till seventeen.” Spock explained.  
“Yep. Gotta thank Cardassian genes.” Drizid laughed nervously and topic was changed.  
Drizid took notice of how Chekov shifted around in his seat after the waitress left and put his hand on his friend’s shoulder. Chekov gave a soft smile before turning to the others and brought up the embarrassing story on how Drizid thought Earth’s seasons worked.  
“Why does summer lead into fall though? It would make more sense for it to go Winter, Fall, Spring, Summer.” Drizid deadpanned at the crew.  
“Earth just hates us like that,” Sulu said on a light tone, which became more curious, “have you ever been outside of the Colony?”  
Everyone seemed to turn and wait for his answer. Drizid pursed his lips together and scratched the back of his neck.  
“Never. I’ve been here for my entire life. Nothing’s really happened to me to want to venture out, other than being a cadet.”  
“That means you’ve never experienced things like seasons, rain, eccedera?” Scotty asked him, a hint of pity in his voice. Drizid didn’t notice it.  
“Only from what the holograms could give you and the artificial temperature changes, no. It’s one of the reasons I wanted to be apart of StarFleet. To be able to see and feel elements that I’ve never felt before.” The answer didn’t seem to bother Drizid, but he didn’t notice the looks of concern and pity from the adults around him.  
“Apart of the reason you joined StarFleet? What are the other reasons?” McCoy queried.  
“My parents were apart of StarFleet. I want to be able to make them proud.”  
***  
When the drinks arrived, and they ordered their food, Drizid didn’t notice that the waitress was flirting with him. He was beyond oblivious to any signs of emotions from others. Jim pitied the poor kid, but found it funny to see him innocently shrug when they asked him about it. He found the kid rather charming really. Very intelligent. Kirk has no doubt that the kid’s gotten emails from ships to join them. But when he brought it up for conversation, Drizid just laughed nervously and said that they all wanted him as a CMO.  
“I’d rather have first hand knowledge of the job before joining.”  
“Like an Ensign?” Sulu asked, “Chekov’s an Ensign. He was supposed to be a pilot like me, but like you he wanted more practice.”  
“Yeah, exactly like that.”  
The wheels in Jim's mind began to turn and it was like his blue eyes were lit up by light bulbs. Whatever he thought of, he kept it to himself. When the food came, the talking switched from space to how good it was. Drizid was a very honest kid. But that was exactly it. He was a kid. He was a kid in StarFleet and was top of his class. He wonders if Drizid lives with strict parents. If he’s pressured. When Jim was seventeen, he was partying and hijacking cars, getting drunk with his friends and screwing anything that had legs. He wonders if the kid has done any of that. Normal high school things. Has Drizid ever been to highschool? Or even middle school? The way the kid acts like an adult is a sign that he grew up to fast. Jim notices that there’s a type of empty in the half breeds golden pupil. How many years of innocence and fun did he miss out on?  
Chekov and Stevens are prodigies. They missed out on years of learning who they are so that they could chase a dream. One’s still chasing his down. All conversation seemed to still as the lights in the restaurant dimmed. The bartender grabbed a microphone and thanked everyone for joining them on tonight. Jim had forgotten what day it was, being wrapped up in the lively conversation with his crew. Today was the day that the Y.T Starset was attacked and the crew was killed while they were saving a ship. The anniversary of the day, anyway. Everyone hung their heads in silence to honor those who lost their lives.  
“Let us not forget those who are still MIA. Lisa Watson, Maddie Lincon, William Baker, Haden Vixen, Chief Navigator Louise Stevens, and Chief Engineer Collin Stevens.” The bartender finished and the lights turned back on. Instantly Jim turned his attention to Drizid.  
“Drizid, were your family-”  
“My mom and dad, yep.” Drizid answered fast, occupying himself with his drink.  
“Vhy didn’t you zay anyzhing?” Chekov asked him, so soft Jim could barely hear it.  
“Not exactly the best ice breaker,” Drizid shrugged as if the topic meant nothing to him. But the pain in his yellow eyes screamed that it meant everything to him, “Look, it’s been nice to meet you all. And I hope you enjoy the rest of your stay here in Yorktown. If you haven’t yet, check out the art museum on Mercer St. It has an amazing 2016 art collection.” Drizid said and stood up, quickly making a grab for the bill.  
“Hey, hold on a minute, the bill’s at least $800 if not more, let us chip in.” Sulu objected.  
“Thank you for the offer, Mr. Sulu, but I can handle it.” Drizid bowed to them slightly and walked over to the hostess and paid for the meals, “Thank you again for having me. It was nice to get to know all of you.” Drizid waved goodbye and left the restaurant. The hostess had a look of sympathy weaved into her brow as she walked over to the table.  
“Don’t be offended by him, Captain. Losing your parents is a hard thing to go through. And he lost them on his birthday.” She sighed.  
“Mizz, do you know vhere he goez? I vant to talk to him.” Chekov asked, sounding very determined.  
“Yorktown cemetery,” She looked a bit panicked, “Please don’t crowd around him, he can be a bit bitter today.” She shifted from side to side before getting back to her job.  
No one stopped Chekov as he exited the building, going after his friend. The adults seemed to share a look of agreement as they left the restaurant, taking a slow walk to a flower shop, then to the Yorktown cemetery. They were doing this not just because of the kid who lost his parents and still had a shrivel of hope that they’d come back, but because they were StarFleet officers and deserved to be honored in some type of way. Throughout the dinner, Jim could tell that Drizid was the type of guy to never lose hope in something. That type of determination was something that he was lacking before Krall’s attack. He hoped that the kid never lost his fire of determination.  
***  
“I think I bought the wrong flower this time, mom. You always liked magnolia’s better than Lilies. But Lilies were dad’s favorite so I bought them instead,” Drizid’s voice was low as he placed the flowers on top of white marble tombs, “Uh, would’ve come sooner, but I had a dinner with a friend and his crew. Remember when I told ya about Pavel? Yeah, it was him and the Enterprise crew. AND I think I impressed their chief medical, which is pretty frickin’ cool because he’s like- saved the captain’s ass from radiation,” He took in a sharp, shaky breath, “If you were here mom, you’d tell me to watch my language. I’ve been gettin tons of emails from different captains, to be their Chief Medical, so that’s pretty cool. I know that my hope for an ensign won’t happen, so I think I’ll go with the U.S.S Everdeen. She’s a military ship, and has Warp 5. Best weapons in StarFleet. I know that dad would've wanted me on an exploration ship, cuz of the violence, but… all of the exploration ships that have reached out to me just don’t sit right.”  
Drizid sighed and clasped his hands in front of him, leaning left in right. He knew that no one could hear him. That he was talking to two rocks. But he kept thinking he could see them standing there, arms wrapped around each other, smiling at him proudly. He almost reached his hands out to touch them, but stopped. Because in a blink of an eye, they were gone. Nowhere to be seen. Drizid ran a hand through his hair, trying to sooth himself down. He cracked his neck and stuffed his hands into his pockets. He thought to himself how the Enterprise crew was doing. If they thought of him as a cocky rich boy who easily paid for a thousand dollar meal. They probably forgot about him already. He was easy to forget about. Deciding that he had to head home and work on the report he was procrastinating, he patted each grave and turned on his heel. Following the path to the gates of the cemetery.  
What he saw ahead of him brought him nothing but confusion.  
The Enterprise crew was maybe a block away, talking to one another. They each had something in their hands as they got closer. They’re probably heading back to their hotel.  
“Drizid!” He turned his head to the right, seeing familiar curls running over, “zhere you are… I vas looking… for… you…” Pavel huffed, bending down to his knees.  
“Pavel, why aren’t you with your crew? They’re across the way.” Drizid asked, and he earned a confused look from his friend.  
“Vhat? Zhey are here?”  
Drizid pointed to the group of adults who were closer than before. Now that they were closer, he could see that they had flowers. He looked at his friend and then back to the adults who stood at the gates of the cemetery, very confused. What was going on? They all had looks of either sympathy or pity and it bugged Drizid to no end. But slowly, what was going on clicked in his mind and he lowered his head slightly.  
“Why’re you guys here?” He asked, even though he knew the answer.  
“To pay our respects. In their logs, your parents were highly intelligent people and became chiefs at nineteen. This is us showing our gratitude towards them.” Spock stated ever so bluntly.  
“Thank you.” Drizid’s voice was quiet and barely audible, but it was there. He felt Chekov give him a squeeze on his arm and pulled something out from his pocket.  
“Happy birzday, I vould’ve gotten zomething else, but it vas zhrot notice.”  
Drizid looked stunned at the gift and took it. It was a small Keychain that said “Invented in Russia” in a bold black. Drizid let of a soft laugh and hugged his friend before turning to the others.  
“Their graves are the ones surrounded by the lit candles over there, can’t miss them.” Drizid instructed.  
Even though he told them where they were, he lead them to his parents anyway. Maybe it was to be able to see his parents again, maybe it was because of something else. But he felt like he could just be there with them, even if it was for that night and they forget all about him afterwards. Simply knowing that they wanted to pay respects to his mom and dad made Drizid happy. The crew introduced themselves to his parents and began to ask Drizid what they had thought about exploration ships. The crew talked about what they did and how they met Drizid. It was nice to see the effort that they put in to talk to rocks, especially Spock. Drizid had to muffle his laughs a bit. When it was over and they left, Drizid felt more at peace than he never did on that day. Would he ever tell anyone about that? Hell no.


	3. Accidental Meetings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Over the months leading up to Drizid's graduation, he has run in's with the crew.

Drizid was beyond exhausted. He had finished seven essays and was in the process of rewriting five of them. His brain was malfunctioning to the point where he couldn't form a basic sentence. Every cell in his body was begging for a break, but the half breed had other plans. He forced himself to work on the essays until his brain fried. Which didn’t take long because half way through the third rewrite, Drizid slammed his computer shut out of frustration. He had been rewording the same sentence for the past forty-five minutes. And it was driving him insane. Letting out a slow breath to calm himself down, Drizid got up from his couch to get himself a glass of water. Though another drink seemed to be more pleasing, Drizid didn’t want to deal with the consequences of getting hammered in the morning. Though the thought was rather tempting. As Drizid gulped down the tap water, he got a small ‘ding’ from his phone. It was his friend, Jaylah.

**Jaylah:** how long have you been working?

**Me:** were your ‘Drizid is overworking himself again’ senses tingling?

**Jaylah:** No. I just wanted to know what you were doing, and you’re usually working. 

**Me:** oh. Yeah, i was. But now I’m just drinking.

**Jaylah:** Didn’t think you had it in you.

**Me:** water, jay. I’m drinking water.

**Jaylah:** come out with me and Scotty, we’re going to a bar.

**Me:** It’s ‘Scotty and I’.

**Jaylah:** Do you wanna come or not.

**Me:** on the way to your dorm now.

Drizid put his phone in his pocket and headed out his door. He had met Jaylah during a lunch break. She was an engineering cadet. Well, not really a cadet, as she was already apart of the Enterprise crew, She just was getting more practice until they took off again. She was rude and very straight forward, which drove many people away. But Drizid found those characteristics intriguing. He bugged her enough and they became friends. Her dorm was two floors below his own, which made the walk rather nice. Drizid knocked on Jaylah’s door three times before hearing a grunt and then a loud ‘come in’ from the inside of the dorm. Letting himself inside, he could hear Jaylah from the kitchen and followed the noise into there. She was putting away dishes before looking up at Drizid.

“Scotty is meeting us there. Come on.” She said. Walking past him and out the door, Drizid hot on her heels. 

“I’ve only had alcohol once, what if I react to it badly?” Drizid asked, following Jaylah as they exited the dormitory complex and met the artificial cold air. 

“Then that’s your problem.”

Drizid smiled at the response. He always liked Jaylah’s wit, along with her snarky comebacks. He had to jog to keep up with her walk, but he didn’t mind that much. On the way, the two talked about small things like the exams coming up and graduation. Drizid knew that Jaylah wasn’t worried, she knew practically everything there was to know about engineering a Star Fleet ship from growing up in one. But Drizid was beyond nervous for them. A part of him knew he had nothing to be nervous about, but that didn’t stop him from worrying that he might not pass. One wrong sentence, and his top grades were done for. Jaylah said that his anxiety was more of a reason to drink, and Drizid couldn’t help but agree. The bar was on an intersection, or rather bars. The bars in Yorktown were stacked on top of each other like a vertical mall, but for drinking. There were a total of ten bars in the complex. The further up you went, the more sophisticated the bar. The duo met Scotty at the entrance.

“Ah, Jaylah! Glad you could make it! And Drizid, I didn’t know you two knew each other. How are ya, laddie?” Scotty asked, pulling Drizid into a firm handshake.

“Doin’ well, Mr. Scott.”

“Call me Scotty, please.” Scotty insisted as the three walked into the bar.

The first bar had warm wood floors and the air smelled like cigarette smoke and bad booze. The three left the first bar and headed up to the fifth bar, where Jaylah and Scotty usually drink. In the elevator ride, Scotty and Drizid caught up with one another. The last time they saw each other was at least a week and a half ago. It calmed Drizid down, being able to casually talk to a higher up. Two higher ups, technically. As both Scotty and Jaylah were employed. The elevator doors opened and the fifth bar came into view. It was booming with music and lights flashing from red, blue, purple, then green. Most people were sitting at tables or at the bar, some were dancing to the blaring music. Drizid squinted at the lights, his circular aurelian pupils becoming cat like, engaging a night vision sight. He followed his friends as they walked up to the bar. The worker seemed to recognize them immediately. How many times have they’ve been here?

“Four shots of scotch, two Absinthe Cocktails, and a soda for the kid?” The worker asked, gesturing to Drizid. Scotty held in a laugh.

“I’m Half Cardassian.” Drizid said to the worker, who nodded understandingly.

“First time out drinking?” He asked him, when Drizid nodded, the bartender smiled, “You’ll want Bronx.” 

Drizid nodded and thanked the man. He stared at his friends, who were looking at him with humor glimmering in their eyes. He rolled his eyes and gestured at them to let out their laughs. Which they did happily. He didn’t look  _ that  _ young, did he? He nodded at the bartender when he came back with their drinks and took a sip of his drink. He felt the burn of the alcohol run down his throat and flow down into his stomach. Very quickly he chugged it. Which is apparently not what your supposed to do with the drink he got because he was getting a very disturbed look from Scotty.

“Are ya alright, lad?” He asked.

“Yeah. If you’re concerned, There’s no need. Cardassians have a very high alcohol tolerance.” Drizid stated as he ordered another Bronx.

The night continued like that. The three of them having a competition on who could last out the longest. They went from their original drinks to jaeger. Jaeger was fucking disgusting. It was like flaming hot cough syrup that stuck to Drizid’s throat. No matter how many times he tried to clear his throat, the alcohol stayed exactly where it wanted to. Did that stop the boy from drinking more? No. He needed to beat Scotty. He was half Cardassian, he could hold his damn liquor. About eleven shots into the Jaeger, Scotty caved. Now it was just Jaylah and Drizid. They moved from human alcohol to an Orion drink called Xinbreen. It was a swift change from the burn of jaeger. This was fizzy and sugary when it hit the tongue and went down the throat. But when it went into the stomach, that’s when that similar burning feeling hit. And it hit hard. Drizid could feel himself slipping, his human side was falling into a pit of drunk, and the Cardassian in him was trying to stay strong on its own. After fifteen shots of the Xinbreen, Drizid gave up. The customers cheered and clapped as Jaylah raised her hands in victory. 

The three of them stumbled out of the bars, laughing like mad men over the fact that Drizid didn’t know what a bird looked like. Scotty straightened up and shook both of their hands before walking, well, more like stumbling back to where the crew was staying. Jaylah helped Drizid to the Dormitory, as he was being held together by a side of himself he’d rather not touch into, drunk or not. The two went into the elevator and Jaylah walked Drizid over to his room.

“What is your code?” She asked.

“Uh, 433… 76… 9?”

“We’re in.” Jaylah said as she opened the door and practically dragged Drizid to his bed. She also went into his bathroom and grabbed two aspirin pills, setting them down on the nightstand next to a glass of water. Helping herself to the kitchen, Jaylah opened the fridge and took out a bunch of oranges, pears, peaches, and plums. She took the fruits from their cores and placed them in a bowl before beginning to squish them into juice. Pouring the mixture into a glass, she wrote on a slip of paper for Drizid to read in the morning and left the room, heading to her own dorm.

When Drizid woke up, he felt overly dizzy and beyond sick. He immediately reached over to the nightstand for his phone, but his hand found two painkillers instead. Odd, he didn’t put those there. Washing the pills down with the water that was next to it, he forced himself up and to waddle into his kitchen. When he was able to adjust to the kitchen brightness, he saw a note on the counter along with a tall glass of juice. 

_ Dear Drizid, _

_ Juice brings vitamins back to the body after getting hammered. Drink it. I called in for you, you’re sick and can’t go to school. You’re sick. Got that? Have fun getting better. _

  * __Jaylah.__



Drizid smiled to himself and drank the juice. He really should thank Jaylah somehow. Maybe a lunch together? That would be fun. He pondered over it as he went back into the bedroom. He could think over it after he was well rested. He found himself walking towards the couch instead of the bed, but really anywhere that was comfortable to sleep on was good enough. He fell into the black cushions of the couch, snuggling down into the arm of the couch. Maybe after a nap, he’d be able to work on those essays. He didn’t feel as much pressure as he did before, one could say that he felt relieved. And now with a day off thanks to Jaylah, he could get the essays done easily. 

***

It was the middle of February when Drizid broke his wrist. It was really an accident. He and Chekov were goofing off and shoving each other playfully, and Chekov just pushed a little to hard. Drizid ended up hitting his wrist on the curb of the road and pushed weight on it. So here he was, sitting out on a simulation test. His professor said that his grades are so good that the missed simulation won’t take much off. But it takes points off all the same. Usually he leads the simulation, if he doesn’t it’s usually Mrs. Lanna. Though she was lacking in commands. When he sat out of the simulation, he realized how the other cadets lean on him for directions. The simulation ended, and the cadets took an extra twenty minutes. Drizid sighed and put his hand over his eyes. Getting permission to be excused from class early, as he was simply sitting there doing nothing, he headed home. The air around him had a moist smell, like how Drizid imagined dew on grass to smell like. It was a nice change from the nipping cold weather. Putting in his ear buds, he played soft jazz as he walked home. Unfortunately for him, it was interrupted by a text notification. 

**Hikaru Sulu:** hey Drizid, as unprofessional as this is, I have to ask. Do you know anyone who could babysit my daughter? Our normal babysitter is out of town.

**Me:** everyone I know is in class, or preparing for exams. However, if you need a babysitter, I could help you. I’ve babysat before, and I need something to do anyway.

**Hikaru Sulu:** Thank you. I’ll send our address. Please be over at 18:30.

**Me:** no problem.

Drizid genuinely enjoyed children’s company. He thought that the innocence they had was blissfully refreshing. And they were cute. Drizid was content that now he had something to do for the evening. He and Sulu met when Sulu was picking up his daughter from school. Drizid was picking up a kid he babysat. They exchanged numbers when he said that he was a babysitter. He gets paid and gets to hang with kids, so he sees no problem with it. When he got to his dorm room, he changed from his uniform into ripped blue jeans and a yellow hoodie that said “Nothing” with embroidered roses around the word. Feeling comfortable, he put in brown contacts to cover his eyes. Ever since the dinner, he’s slowly gotten used to looking at them. But they were still scary to children. He left the dormitory and took a cab to the complex that Sulu lives in.

The neighborhood was very beautiful. It had artificial trees, grass, and flowers. The houses were designed to look like earth houses. There was a cute bakery and ice cream store at the entrance of the neighborhood. Drizid reminded himself to remember that in case Demora wanted to go there. When the cad pulled into the Sulu’s driveway and Drizid paid the driver has he exited the car. The house was modern designed. The garage was connected to the house and had a balcony over it, next to the garage was a staircase that curved to get to the main entrance of the house. The doors were made of a warm colored wood and had a small roof over them to protect them from rain. The wall on the doors left was completely made of glass. The roof was a deep reddish wood color. Overall it was a very attractive in general. Drizid knocked on the door twice before it opened.

“You must be Drizid, right? I’m Ben, Hikaru’s husband.” Ben said kindly.

“A pleasure, Mr. Sulu.” Drizid smiled at Ben, who let him inside.

“Please, call me Ben. Demora is in the living room. Thank you for doing this on such short notice.”

“It’s no problem, Ben.” Drizid said as he looked around the house. It was gorgeous. 

When Hikaru came down the stairs, the two laid down a basic schedule for Drizid to follow. Dinner is at 19:00, homework is after dinner, bakery or ice cream is done if Demora finishes her homework, then it’s bed. A simply schedule. Drizid waved goodbye to them as they drove away from the house. The half breed sighed to himself and went into the living room. Demora was in there, just like Ben said. She was lounging on the couch, watching a cartoon that Drizid didn’t understand. It was in an Earth language separate from English. Demora looked at him and her eyes lit up immediately. 

“Are you my babysitter?” She asked him.

“Yes. What are you watching?” Drizid asked, gesturing to the screen.

“I’m  _ studying  _ a cartoon. I wanna be a cartoonist when I grow up, so I study the shows and the characters. What are you?” Demora asked, emphasizing the ‘what’. 

“I'm part human and part Cardassian. A cartoonist sounds like an interesting job to have. How do you study for it?” Drizid sat on the couch next to Demora.

“You watch the show, and then you draw out the scenes shot by shot,” the kid showed Drizid her drawings of the show, “aren’t they amazing? My drawings?”

“They’re incredible! You’ll be a cartoonist in no time.” Drizid felt accomplished when Demora let out a soft laugh.

The two kept banter like that up throughout dinner and homework. Demora was seven, so she was learning her times tables and her grammar. Drizid found out that Demora was beyond smart for her age. She was a whiz at math, didn’t even need Drizid’s help for the questions. Grammar was another story. It was a three page packet, so it did take awhile to finish. It took the two more time than they expected. When they were done, Drizid took Demora to the ice cream place. She was very happy to be able to go there. Drizid was just happy that she was happy. When they got back, they watched a few cartoons before He put Demora to bed.

“Drizzy, did you know that a lot of people don’t like half breeds?” She asked. Demora didn’t notice the way Drizid got stiff.

“Yeah De, I know.”

“I like you, Drizzy.” Demora stated as she fell asleep. 

Drizid got up and closed Demora’s bedroom door. He thought about what she said about half breeds. It disgusted him that half breed discriminatory was still a thing, but humanity was always flawed. Humanity will always be flawed. When Demora’s dads got home, Drizid told them that all the work was complete and that their daughter was fast asleep. Bidding them goodnight, he left. The walk home was long and somber. And as much as he hated it, he couldn’t shake what Demora said away from him. Drizid himself had dealt with discrimination before. Nothing to severe, but it has left him scarred in some places. But nothing that bad. He hoped that by the time Demora was his age that the discrimination would be over, but it was an unlikely wish.

***

A few weeks after baby sitting Demora, Drizid was packed with homework. After classes, he and Pavel would always hang out. But now, seeing any friends was a rarity. The studying became constant during lunch, overnight simulations fucked up Drizid’s sleep schedule, papers and long talks with professors filled his afternoons. It wasn’t noticeable at first, but with every day that passed Drizid got a bit paler, the bags under his eyes a bit darker, his reactions a bit slower, he got a bit thinner. It happened with every cadet when exam season started. But you forget how hard it was to go through it until you see how the cadets look as a graduate. And the sight wasn’t pretty. They look like zombies. Slaves to their own work.

Drizid sat at his counter, working on an answer to a question about how to dissect a Klingon. It was relatively easy, and he would’ve gotten the answer right away if his brain was working. It was only 14:00, and he had another overnight simulation to do at 19:00. Letting go a breath he didn’t know he was holding, the half breed drew his attention to his phone. There’s nothing wrong with taking a short break. Just a fifteen minute break, then he would be able to write the answer down easy. The walk to the cafe was two minutes, ordering and getting the drink took five, the walk back two. It was perfect. And he’d save six minutes. He had to have coffee anyway, he hasn’t consumed anything since yesterday’s dinner. And as dinner, he had a bagel. We love the cadet life in Yorktown.

The walk to the cafe took as long as he thought it would. Drizid was already in line. He knew that he was still in his uniform, but better to be in it than be out of it. That extra change of clothes would do nothing for him. The line was short. Overall the cafe was rather quiet. Drizid was brought back to reality when he heard the guy in front of him speak. The voice was,  _ extremely  _ familiar, but he couldn’t place wear. Maybe TV? Or a lecture. Drizid began to ponder where he had heard the voice until the man turned around, looking down at him slightly in recognition. 

“Drizid, right? Chekov’s friend?”

He looked up. Oh. It was Kirk. The hotel that the Enterprise crew was staying in was across town, what was he doing here? “Uh, yes sir. It’s nice to-” he yawned quietly, “see you again. Sorry.”

“It’s- it’s fine. Have you been sleeping?” Kirk asked, looking over the cadets body.

“Exam season. Sleep doesn’t exist for us cadets.” Drizid joked, though the look he only got was one of mild concerns, “Sir, with all of my overnight simulations and work to do, I have no time to sleep or to have breaks. It’s a reward I’ll get after graduating.”

“So, let me get this straight. You haven’t slept at all since exam prep started. Which was four days ago?”

“Yes, sir.” Drizid said. Assuming the conversation was over, Drizid walked passed the captain and ordered his coffee. The barista took pity on the kid and added three extra shots of espresso. As Drizid left the cafe, he heard rushed footsteps from behind him. Maybe his mind was playing tricks on him.

“For a very intelligent doctor, you don’t exactly take care of yourself.”

“Mr. Kirk, I assume you knew what exam season does to us cadets. Perhaps being out in space so long that you’ve had the luxury of forgetting your cadet days,” Drizid snapped out of tiredness, then immediately showed signs of regret, “I-I am so sorry, I don’t know what came over me, I can give you my professor’s email to send a complaint on my behavior-”

“Kid, I’m not mad.” Kirk stated, putting a swift end to Drizid’s apology, who looked at him confused, “If anything, I’m realizing how overworked cadets are. You’re eighteen, right?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Then you should be getting at least ten hours of sleep. Where’s your dorm room?”

“A few blocks away… why?”

Kirk didn’t answer, he simply gestured to Drizid to take him there. Drizid didn’t want to dig a bigger hole for himself by refusing a captain, so he took him to the medical dormitory. The two walked in silence, both drinking their coffee. When the dormitory doors opened, Drizid wasn’t surprised by the stares they got from the lobby. Just the general stares from the other cadets. Some stared in awe, others stared in jealousy. The top medical student was with the Captain that saved Yorktown. Drizid will never be able to live this down. As they made it to Drizid’s door, he couldn’t keep his curiosity to himself for much longer. 

“Sir, why did you come with me to my dorm?” He asked, leaning against the door.

“To make sure that you go to bed because you and my medical chief have one thing in common, it’s that you both don’t take care of yourselves.”

Drizid absently nodded and put in the code to his dorm. He muttered something to the Captain about not minding the mess, but the room was no mess at all. If anything, the only mess was a few thick stacks of papers and a mug of tea on the counter top. Drizid lazily gestured to where the bathroom was before sitting down and opening his laptop, getting ready to get back to work. He mumbled out that the Captain could watch TV or something, but it was so quiet that he doubts that he heard it. Drizid had gotten three sentences in before he felt a light tap on his shoulder.

“You need sleep, Cadet.”

“I can’t. I have an overnight simulation and then studying. Besides I have a some-what stable sleep schedule. I’m fine Sir, thank you for the concern.” Drizid yawned again before going back to work.

_ ‘Was Bones like this when he was training? It would explain why he fell asleep in lectures during the day.’  _ Kirk thought to himself before clearing his throat, “Cadet, go to your room.”

“But I am in my room.”

“Go to bed, Stevens. That’s an order from a superior officer.” It didn’t surprise Kirk when Drizid let out a string of excuses, but he wasn’t having any of it. Any excuse that Drizid found, Kirk shot down. When he knew that the kid was in bed, which wasn’t hard because he heard a loud thump that he assumed was a body hitting the bed, he opened his P.A.D.D. and emailed the professor in charge of the simulation.

_ Dear Professor Luminous, _

_ I regret to inform you that Cadet Stevens has passed out from exhaustion, and as such cannot perform the simulation tonight. He has an excuse from me, and I take responsibility for the problems that this might make. However, the Cadet is eighteen, and as such should be getting a healthy ten hours of sleep. It worries me that the medical cadets work for a full twenty-four hours, but I have no say in that matter. Email me if you have any questions on Cadet Stevens condition. _

  * **_Captain James T. Kirk_**



***

Drizid was walking along the streets with his friend, Zoe. Zoe was a human with curly bubblegum pink hair and dark brown roots. She was short, 5”2 exactly. Her hair was usually in a bun, but her curly bangs always found a way to go in her face. The two were given a two day break from exams, as they both took the exam season to a whole new level. When the professor received Captain Kirk’s email, she immediately took Drizid out of class, as well as Zoe who called in for exhaustion as well. It also spread around the school that Drizid had special connections with Captains because of Kirk going into his dorm, as well as having the most ships wanting him to be aboard. It didn’t help Drizid at all, but he didn’t really care. Zoe and Drizid were clothes shopping in a mall when they heard a few girls whispering and laughing to themselves from a corner. Zoe saw one of the girls point at Drizid and laugh again. Drizid didn’t notice. He looked down at his short friend to seemed to be fuming. 

“What’s wrong, Zoe?” He asked curiously. He didn’t understand why Zoe sent a passive glare over at the group of girls. Not fast enough anyway. Because the girls were already on their way over. 

“ _ What  _ are you?” One of them asked.

“I’ll tell you what  _ it  _ is, it’s a half breed.” Said another.

“The ‘it’ you bitches are talking about has a name.” Zoe stated coldly.

“Did you guys hear something,” one of the girls said, purposefully looking over Zoe’s head, “I don’t know where the voice came from.” 

Drizid rolled his eyes, grabbed Zoe by the hand and left the store. He’s dealt with people like that on rare occasions, but he knows better than to fuel them on. “It’s not worth it, Zoe. Trust me.”

The two tried to push it passed them and continue shopping. It took a few minutes, but everything slowly went back to normal. They were laughing and having fun again. Zoe had bought a new dress for graduation, and convinced Drizid to buy a suit. The suit had a black shirt and a white vest, black pants, a white belt and a white overcoat. Drizid made a reference to the old mobs back in Chicago. They laughed harder. Now they both had bags. Zoe and Drizid had been friends since Drizid’s first day at Star Fleet.

_ “An eleven year old here?” _

_ “Careful, it’s a half breed. It might hurt you if you insult it.” _

_ “Ew, look at it’s eyes. They’re so ugly.” _

_ “Hey, stop it! Leave  _ him  _ alone! Are you alright, mi amigo?” _

_ Drizid nodded at the girl who wasn’t much older than him. She looked to be around fifteen. _

_ “I’m Zoe Oberhouse. Cadet in Medical, what’s your name?” _

_ “Drizid Stevens.” _

Drizid was pulled out of the memory when Zoe roughly tugged on the sleeve of his facket and pointed at the cute restaurant in front of them. He smiled down at her and opened the door for her as they walked in. The restaurant was designed as a 1960s diner. It really was a weird experience, to witness something from so long ago. Drizid and Zoe sat down and looked over the menu. Drizid noticed the looks he was getting from the waitress from across the diner and sighed. Here too? He was beginning to wonder if the food here was worth it. They’d probably spit in his. He suddenly decided he wasn’t hungry, but he couldn’t bring that up to his friend, who was overly excited to try the food. It was probably better than the disgusting cafeteria food they had on the regular.

“Hi, I’m Lizzy, I’ll be your server. Can I offer drinks?” The waitress asked.

“A coke please.” Zoe said smiling politely. Lizzy nodded and turned to Drizid, looking a bit afraid.

“Water, please.” If Drizid sounded threatening, he didn’t mean to. Because Lizzy flinched and left quickly.

“Do you deal with things like this on most days?” Zoe asked.

“No. Rare occasion, actually. Guess today’s just not my day.” Drizid sighed.

Zoe nodded and dropped the conversation. Whenever Lizzy came by, She wouldn’t really look at Drizid. Only if it was completely necessary. Drizid could tell that it was slowly making Zoe lose it, but she wasn’t saying anything about it. The two talked about how excited they were to graduate. It was only months away, but it felt so damn close. Free from the boxy uniforms and homework. They knew that they’d get another uniform and reports to hand in, but they’d be in space. Which is a big one up than being on a Colony. 

“Here’s you food ma’am. Are you uhm, are you sure you don’t want anything?” Lizzy asked Drizid warily.

“I’m sure.”

“We- we can give you something on the house, or-”

“I said I’m sure. But thank you for the offer.”

Lizzy practically ran to the back of the diner. He scared her again. He doesn’t do it on purpose. Hell, when he looked around the place, some of the customers looked scared of him. He blames his horns. He even put in contacts today. Zoe seemed to be taking it harder than he was. As she was rambling on and on that he shouldn’t be treated any different than others. Anytime he tried to calm her down resulted in her blowing up about how it’s unfair. He loved how passionate she was, but sometimes it was too much.

“Oh good, I see people who can help. Or try better than us.” Zoe said gratefully, looking at the two people who walked in.

_ ‘Oh, you’ve gotta be shitting me.’ _ Drizid thought to himself in dread. Because the two people who just walked into the diner were Dr. McCoy and Nyota Uhura. Great. Just great, “Okay Zoe, you cannot, I’m serious you cannot go up to them and tell them what happened.”

“But they can hel-”

“How can a Communications Officer and a Medical Chief help with discrimination?” he snapped at Zoe, “sorry, just please leave them alone. I’m already getting rumors of favoritism with their captain, I don’t need rumors with one of the most intelligent doctors in human history.” Drizid begged.

“. . . fine.”

He felt pure relief and leaned in his seat. Thankfully, the two officers didn’t notice them bickering and sat at the table across from the two cadets. Drizid made sure to not look at them. Any glance towards their directions might cause an interaction, which would cause more rumors. He was not about to dig an even bigger whole for himself. Nuh-uh. No sir. Drizid wasn’t getting involved in any more rumors. When Lizzy came back, she had a tall middle aged woman walking with her. The lady had on a violet dress top and a black pencil skirt. Her skin was a light shade of blue and had gills on her neck. Her hair looked like scales that grew from her scalp beautifully. Zoe smiled at the lady, the lady smiled back. Then turned to Drizid. 

“It’s come to my attention that you’ve been scaring our staff and customers?”

“What? I mean- I- what?”

“I won’t tolerate someone who acts all innocent after hurting people. Let alone a Halfbreed.”

“Okay, listen up pal,” Zoe got up from her seat, and looked up at the lady, “my friend hasn’t done anything other than sit with me and talk. He hasn’t even got up to use the restroom!”

“Zoe-” 

“No. No I’m not going to put up with this. You can’t treat him like he’s any less of a person than me.”

“Are you telling me how to run my business?” The lady asked, clearly offended.

“Zoe, let’s just go.” Drizid pleaded, getting up from his seat. Lizzy took two steps back.

“Excuse me, is there an issue here?” Everyone turned to the voice from behind. Drizid wanted to curl into a ball. Because both McCoy and Uhura were standing, looking mildly upset.

“I’m so sorry if this one here,” The lady gestured to Drizid, “has caused you trouble. I’ll report him if you wish.” She gave a sincere smile that made Drizid feel sick.

“No, actually it’s you we should report.” Uhura barked back, making no effort to hide her anger. 

“Me?” The lady asked surprised.

“You accuse Drizid of disrupting the customers, yet he’s done nothing. You go so far to say that he’s in some way harmed your staff. Is any of this true?” Dr. McCoy asked, stepping forward slightly.

“It’s not. I haven’t done anything.” Drizid said before the lady could answer.

“Then you, ma’am, gave a false crime to a cadet of Star Fleet. Can we ask why?” Uhura shifted her weight to one side, glaring at the lady who was beyond flustered.

“You know them?” Zoe whispered to Drizid.

“Yeah. We had dinner.” Drizid said back to his friend.

Let it be known that Uhura was able to get the customers to side with Drizid’s story, and McCoy ripped the lady to shreds with a spine chilling calm voice and insults. They all then proceed to leave the restaurant, Drizid both relieved that he was backed up and terrified upon seeing how scary two officers can become. Zoe waved goodbye, needing to head to her shift. As she left, McCoy quickly turned to Drizid and gave him a once over.

“Does that happen to you often, Stevens?” He asked.

“Not often, but it happens. Just gotta live with it.” Drizid shrugged.

“You shouldn’t have too. No one should,” Uhura stated calmly, “Are you alright?”

“Yeah, fine.” 

“You’re shaking.” McCoy observed, pointing at Drizids hand which were in fact, shaking.

“Uh, yeah I’m cold. It’s not cause of that- it’s not even that, that big a deal, really.” Drizid shoved his hands into his pockets, “Thank you two. For uh, helping me. You didn’t have too, so thanks.”

“Don’t thank us kid. Like Uhura said, you shouldn’t have to go through that.” McCoy uttered.

Drizid nodded, feeling more at ease than before. The two officers walked with him to his dorm, much to his efforts to assure he was alright. On the way, they talked about Earth. Both officers were from the planet, and Drizid wanted to know everything about the planet. They answered question after question. And they did their best to hide the pang of sympathy they felt when he asked certain questions about the planet that he’s never gotten to experience before. 

“Wait, so what’re water landmarks like? Are they as blue as the books describe them to be? Or are they more of a black color?” As smart as Drizid can be at times, he didn’t see the looks of shock and sadness on the two officers faces.

“Do you not have lakes here?” Uhura asked.

“We have quarries, if that’s what you mean. But no lakes, rivers, oceans, or ponds. A bunch of fountains, pools and quarries.” 

“The oceans are a deep black. But not a scary black, a calming one. The lakes and seas are a brilliant shade of turquoise.” McCoy explained, quickly hiding his pity. Drizid smiled and nodded.

“I hope to see them some day. Thank you for helping me again.” Drizid beamed before heading into his dormitory. 

“He’s such a sweet kid, Bones. I hope he stays that way.”

“So do I, Uhura. So do I.”

***

Drizid paced in his room. The exam results were coming in tonight and to say he was anxious would be the understatement of the year. He was running his hands through his brown hair, muttering calming phrases to himself that didn’t work. He was certain he got at least ten questions wrong on the medical exam, and that he got eighteen moves wrong in the defense exam. He would fail and not be able to graduate. He’d be held back a year or worse, expelled from StarFleet. God, he would be too embarrassed to even show his face outside.

Drizid heard three knocks coming from his door.

What if he failed all of the exams? Did he turn in all of his essays? Attend and redo every simulation? What if they decided that his grades weren’t good enough and kicked him out? Or worse, his grades are too good and they accuse him of cheating? God, he imagined any and every scenario of what could go wrong. He failed. He failed all of them. Drizid was so sure that he was going to break his floor with the amount of pacing he was doing.

Drizid heard three knocks coming from his door.

What if the rumors about him and the  _ U.S.S Enterprise  _ crew ruin his chances of getting into ships? Would captains of ships who already sent him invitations to their ships take back the invites? Or worse, would the Enterprise crew think he was using them to gain a better spot on better built ships? God, did he dig himself a hole by becoming friends with them? 

And who was knocking on that goddamn door?

Drizid stormed out of his room and entered a code to open his door. He wish he wasn’t looking as disheveled as he did because Pavel stood in the doorway, a smile he had on before slowly fading when he took in his friends appearance. Clearing his throat, he stepped out of the doorway and let Pavel inside. 

“Uh, sorry that I don’t look the best, just a little nervous for the results I guess.” Drizid admitted, scratching the back of his neck.

“Vhy zhould you be nerwous? Drizid, you haff an incredible mind, I’m zure you pazzed your exams with ztraight A’s.” Pavel comforted. 

“It’s kinda funny.” Drizid said to himself, then looked up at his friend, “when you say it, I almost believe it.”

Pavel laughed with Drizid and helped him take his mind off of the results. They watched movies, talked about their days, anything to distract Drizid. Now, Drizid would never say that he was a worrier, especially over something like test results, but just because he doesn’t say it doesn’t mean that it’s not true. And for a reason that the cadet would never understand, he let Pavel see that side of him. Maybe it was just the friendly aura that the Russian had, that made Drizid feel like he could be more open with him. The feeling was mutual.

“Wow, I didn’t think you’d be leaving so soon.” Drizid said, a little shocked.

“It’ll only be a few veeks after you graduate, ve’ll be able to be at your graduation party.”

“. . . ‘we’?”

“Zhe crew and I. Ve reciwed an invatation from your aunt.”

“You did?”

“Vell, kind of. Zhe zent me zhe invite, vhen I told zhe Captain, he insisted zhat zhe ozher members zhould go az vell az a zurprize.” Pavel’s voice seemed to get quieter as the sentence went on. Drizid let out a sigh of relief,

“OH thank god, I thought she sent an invitation to all of you.” Drizid laughed a bit from his own anxiety.

Drizid asked Pavel where they’d be going next, and their past adventures. When he saw a shine of passion in Pavel’s ocean eyes, he knew that whatever was said would be entertaining. Pavel was a great story teller, using wild gestures and making his voice sound different than it usually is as a way to show someone else was saying something. Drizid zoned out as to what Pavel was saying, focusing on his eyes. His eyes that shone a bright blue, like a blue you’d imagine only from a fairy tale. His eyes were like bottomless pools or blues and greens, mixing together to make their own galaxy. Drizid let a soft smile spread across his face as he got lost in those clover crystal blue eyes. The more he got lost in them, the more he lost track of time. It wasn’t until Drizid noticed that the artificial sun was gone that the results of the exams were long past sent. Drizid fell out of his friends trance and got up, sprinting back into his room and grabbing his P.A.D.D. 

“Vell? How are zhey?” Pavel asked, walking towards the doorway of the bedroom. Drizid turned slowly with unreadable eyes. Pavel’s light hearted note in his voice was lost, “Are zhey bad?”

“Pavel, I- I passed.” Drizid stated, his clear amber eyes began to be filled with undeniable joy, “I passed with  _ straight A’s, _ just like you thought I would!” His voice held nothing but happiness.

Drizid quickly moved to hug his friend, bringing him tightly into his chest. Pavel hugged back just as tight, happy to see his friend so relieved. He wasn’t a Cadet anymore, he was a doctor. A doctor who would be going to space in not to long. Drizid let out a laugh of pure bliss and let go of the shorter man, dropping the P.A.D.D and calling his aunt. He could see the happiness in Pavels eyes when they looked at each other. Drizid said to his aunt how he passed with straight A’s and the yell from the other line was so loud, the two swear anyone outside heard it. If Drizid’s aunt was there in person, she’d be crying in front of them. Which was normal of course, as her nephew just passed his exams with perfect scores. 

“Thank you, Pavel. For helping me come down from my anxiety high.” Drizid spoke with sincerity.

“It’z no problem, honezt.” The brunet responded.

“No, no really. If you didn’t get my book back for me, I don’t think that I would’ve passed with flying colors. You’ve really impacted my life, I wanted you to know that before you left.”

“Zhank you, Drizid.”

Drizid smiled at Pavel and lead him out of the dormitory, waving goodbye as his friend walked down the blocks, slowly out of sight. When Drizid walked back into the building, his friends asked what he got. When he said straight A’s, no one was surprised. But they were still proud of him. Anyone would be. He laid sprawled out on his bed, feeling beyond relieved. He was a doctor now. An actual doctor. A space doctor. He can’t wait to be in space, to be with a crew. He could only imagine it now, imagine the fun that he and Pavel would have on the  _ Enterprise _ , how they’d get into fun trouble-

That’s when Drizid remembered that he’s never gotten an invitation from the  _ Enterprise  _ crew. Drizid’s happiness seemed to fade as he fell into a dreamless sleep.

***

It was a week before his graduation, and Drizid was swamped. Not with work, but with Captains invites. All of them gave very good arguments for joining their crew, but Drizid didn’t think that he’d join them. Not when the ship he wanted to join didn’t want him. He gets it though. He probably came off as too clingy, too dramatic, too depressing. Most of the ships that wanted him were peace explorer ships, just like the  _ U.S.S Enterprise _ , he’d be able to go on exciting adventures and help his crew, just like he would’ve done with them, but it just didn’t feel right. But who was he to complain? He was a half breed prodigie, who had the best grades in the medical section at age eighteen. Who was he to complain about not getting into a ship when he had over a hundred Captains sending him requests? It wasn’t like he wasn’t grateful, of course he was. But he just didn’t feel like he’d be able to form relationships there. Sighing to himself, he went back to going through the invites. Pavel said he was coming over to help him with it, which he was beyond grateful for. If he did this alone, it would take him days. As if on cue, their were two knocks on his door. Pushing himself off of his couch, he opened the doors.

“Hey Pav- you’re not Pavel.” Drizid held out the ‘v’ a little longer than he should have, he blames the shock.

“You would be correct. Chekov got food poisoning and when he said that he had plans to help you organize your ship invitations, I suggested that my presence would be most efficient than one of food poisoning. May I come inside?” First Officer Spock asked, his hands clasped behind his back.

“Ye-yeah uhm, make yourself at home. The uh- invites are on the coffee table across the couch.” Drizid stepped away from the door frame, trying to comprehend what just happened. 

_ ‘The First Officer of the fucking Enterprise is helping me sort through my ship invitations. Calm your ass Drizid, He can sense anxiety.’ _

Drizid started to make tea from the kitchen that connected to the living room. He then began to play lofi beats throughout the house thanks to the Bluetooth speakers. It filled the awkward silence into a more relaxing one. Taking a few deep breaths, he sat down next to the half Vulcan and the two began to sort through the different ships. First, they organized by alphabetical order, then from what ship was the highest in rank. Drizid tried for small talk, but it was a bit difficult to make jokes with Spock when he took things so literally. Drizid stopped trying after the third time. 

“You want to be apart of an Explore Ship, correct?” Spock asked suddenly, startling Drizid.

“Yeah, uh, yeah I do.They’re more fun than a military ship.” 

“Indeed,” Spock drew in a breath, “I suggest going with the  _ U.S.S Seek.  _ She has the highest ranking for exploring ships, and the crew will be made up of people in your class. Therefore you would have connections on the ship already.” 

“Pfft, connections, yeah.” Drizid muttered to himself. He looked up to Spock giving him a confused look. Well, as confused as an emotionless alien can get, “I just mean that I don’t exactly have many friends in the Academy. They only three I have are all going on military ships.” He explained.

“I apologize for assuming, Dr, Stevens.”

“It’s fine, you didn’t mean any- wait,  _ Dr.  _ Stevens?” Drizid emphasized the title.

“Yes. Congratulations on graduating.” Spock stated.

“Oh, thanks. You too.” 

Drizid stopped talking after that, to embarrassed to open his mouth. He quickly covered his mistake by clearing his throat and beginning to focus on filling out the invatation form for the  _ U.S.S Seek _ . Spock helped him sound more mature throughout the email, changing certain words into long phrases. By the time the email was complete, it looked to be around two full paragraphs. Thank god for smart people because if it was just Drizid writing that out, the email back would simply be: ‘thank you for the invite. I’d be pleased to come along.’ As Spock got up to leave, He stopped and turned back to face Drizid.

“Dr. Stevens, you received over thirty-two requests for joining exploration ships as their CMO. Why wasn’t one of them from the  _ U.S.S Enterprise _ ?” He asked him. Drizid drew in a slow breath, any light heartedness in his voice gone.

“I never received a request, sir.”


	4. Graduation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Drizid is graduating and feels bitter sweet seeing the Enterprise Crew there. When Captain Noble says something that throws Drizid into distress, he doesn't know who to trust. His friends, or his Captain?

It confused Spock to no end to hear that Drizid never received a request to join the Enterprise as he walked back to the hotel. At the dinner party months ago, he saw the glint of admiration that Kirk and Bones had when they looked at Drizid. So why didn’t Jim give the young doctor a ship request? Bones would’ve for sure gone off at Kirk if he didn’t. As Spock let his mind wander in all the scenarios that could’ve happened to prevent Drizid from joining the Enterprise crew, he found himself taking a wrong turn on his walk back and crashed into a woman. She had dark skin and brown eyes with specks of black. Her hair was in a pixie cut, and it coiled up. She stood about three inches above Spock, keeping her balance from the accidental impact. 

“Oh, I’m sorry, I was rushing and didn’t look at who was- wait a moment, your Spock, right? From the  _ U.S.S Enterprise? _ ” The lady asked.

“May I inquire who’s asking?” Spock responded. The lady seemed familiar, but he couldn’t put a name to her.

“Captain Louis J. Noble, I’m the captain of the  _ U.S.S Seek. _ ” She smiled, holding her hand out to shake. “I’m actually on my way to the StarFleet medical dormitories. Can you point me in the direction?” 

Spock had to let the words settle. The captain who now had Drizid as her CMO was going to the medical dormitories. She must want to meet him personally. “The medical dormitory is a turn to the left and three blocks down.”

“Thank you. I have to get going.” Noble nodded her head in gratitude before walking down the street.

It took Spock another forty-five minutes to get back to the hotel. When he reached the floor he was staying on, he debated going up to the floor above him to confront Kirk on the absence of a request for Drizid to come aboard their ship. If Jim truly meant to not send an invatation, then so be it. However, if the Captain simply forgot, then Spock would make him apologize to the now graduate for making him hope that he’d get a request to join them. Though the confrontation was probably the last thing on Spock’s mind, it still bugged him as he entered his room to get ready for bed. If that woman was who she said she was, then she and Drizid would be having a conversation right about now. He wondered what it was about. It wasn’t his business, after all Drizid’s not even apart of his crew. But the kid was smart beyond what Spock would expect a kid his age to be. He had the brains of a working CMO at the age of eighteen. It was no wonder why Captain Noble wanted him on her crew. Spock heard one knock at his door before it swung open.

“Hey Spock, how’s the kid doing?” Jim asked, walking into the room like it was his own.

“He’s doing well. In fact, I helped him fill out a ship application to the  _ U.S.S Seek _ .”

“That’s cool. Glad the kid’s gotten on a ship- wait what.” Jim cut himself, stopping in place. “He’s on the  _ U.S.S Seek? _ ”

“Yes Captain. As he did not have a request to join our ship, I put him on the next best option.”

“He what? You  _ what?” _ Jim ran his hands through his hair and groaned, “damit, I was gonna ask him in person, but I was always interrupted so I was going to ask him at graduation.”

“Captain, as I admire you wanting to make the request more meaningful by doing it in person, I must say that you are going to have trouble with gaining Drizid’s trust back.”

“Oh. Really? I never would have guessed.” Jim’s voice dripped with sarcasm.

“However, we still have a chance to get him on the Enterprise.” Spock stated, catching Jim’s attention immediately, “A freshly hired crew member can request a transfer until they hit their first semester of being in their original crew. If We can get Drizid to request a transfer from the Seek to the Enterprise, then he’ll be on our crew.” Spock recited one of the rules of StarFleet and watched Jim’s face light up a bit.

“It’ll be easy. We’ll have the kid back in no time.”

Spock doubted it would be as ‘easy’ as Jim says it will be.

***

“Stevens, Drizid.” The professor from the announcer stand spoke as Drizid got up and approached the stage to receive his diploma. “Drizid Stevens was the hardest working cadet I’ve had the pleasure of teaching. His intelligence is extraordinary and his kind spirit has impacted the campus. Coming to StarFleet at eleven years old, he proved himself amongst his older peers to be a force to be reckoned with. At fourteen, Drizid took part in a fundraiser for supporting a shelter for Half breed teens who are homeless. He donated $800,000 and encouraged others to do the same. When he turned fifteen he passed every simulation for sophomore surgeons with flying colors. Sixteen and seventeen were the years he dedicated himself making the cafeteria food taste better. That might seem like a small accomplishment to you all, but to the campus it was one of the best things that’s ever happened. And at eighteen his grades and accomplishments caught the eyes of over one-hundred ships, two of those being the  _ U.S.S Enterprise  _ and the  _ U.S.S Seek _ . I am beyond proud of him and hope he goes on to achieve amazing things in his lifetime.” She said as she handed him the diploma and stepped aside for him to give his speech.

“Thank you, Professor Kirsa. I want to thank my aunt and uncle who were always helping me with work and keeping me focused. I wanted to say that I hope I can make my parents proud, wherever they may be. Thank you so much.” He smiled as the audience of people cheered as he walked back to his seat.

Drizid looked out on the crowd, smiling at the thought of he made it out of the academy. He made his professors and his fellow cadets proud of him. He spotted a group of people in the center of the auditorium who’re cheering louder than the rest. They even gave him a standing ovation. He looked down bashfully as the Enterprise crew applauded him and his accomplishments. Looking over to the crew that he now worked for, they gave him confident and warm smiles and cheered for him. He gave them both smiles before walking off the stage. It was amazing to hear them cheer for him, but it hurt to know that those cheers might be the only thing he hears from them made the sounds bitter sweet.

Refreshments were right after every graduate got their diplomas. The weather was nice, a bright sky tinted in a range of pinks and oranges, filled with fluffy white clouds. A nice breeze ruffled the green leaves on the trees, flowers that were growing in the campus garden. Drizid was laughing with Zoe about how stiff they both were until she went to meet up with her parents. As she left, Drizid wandered around campus until he spotted the exact faces he was looking for. The now graduate took a running jump into his Aunt’s and Uncles arms, letting himself be squeezed in their hug of love. Drizid doesn’t hug often, but this time he would let it slide because dammit, he’s going to fucking space in four days and won’t see them again for months, years even. If this was the last time he would feel them, he wanted it to count.

“We’re so proud of you, Drizid.” His uncle said as he let go of his nephew, smiling wide.

“And getting accepted onto the  _ U.S.S Seek _ ?! That’s incredible, dear.” His aunt complimented.

“Thank you, both of you. You’ve helped me so much that I don’t think that I’d be standing here if it wasn’t for you two.” Drizid beamed at them, and turned around when he felt a tap on his shoulder.

“Congratulations, Drizid! I am zo happy for you!” Pavel smiled and Drizid also pulled him into a hug, though it was brief.

“Thanks, Pavel. I’m so happy I got to meet you before I leave. You’ve really been a big help this year, I hope you know that.”

“It’z nozhing, weally.”

“Drizid dear, we have to get back to our company, but we can’t wait to see you and your friends later tonight!” His aunt said as she and her husband left.

“Yeah, sure,” Drizid waved goodbye and looked at Pavel, “You’ve made my last days in Yorktown an adventure. From introducing me to your crew to hanging with me almost every night. You’re a good person, Pavel. And I’m happy that I got to know you as a person.” Drizid said in all seriousness. Pavel blushed and cleared his throat twice before nodding and giving a soft smile.

“I’m glad zhat I vas able to help you, Drizid.”

“Stevens! Congrats on graduating, kid.” Kirk yelled from where he was walking over to the two. They both laughed a bit.

“Thank you, Sir. That means a lot.” Drizid said, trying to keep a calm composure.

“I actually wanted to talk to you, Drizid.” Kirk said when he was closer to the two. Pavel smiled widely as if he knew what was going on and excused himself. 

“Of course Sir, is something the matter?” Drizid asked as Kirk began to lead them on a walk.

“No, well, not yet anyway. Hopefully. Look, you’re a bright kid, and I think it’s safe to say that you have made a very good impression on my friends.”

“Thank you Sir.”

“Drizid, you don’t have to call me ‘sir’. I told you before, Jim is fine.” Jim reassured, when Drizid nodded, he continued, “kid the crew love you. They think you’re extremely smart and not to mention you’ve made quite an impression on Chekov.” Jim winked.

Drizid didn’t get it.

Jim sighed and continued, “What I’m saying is that we’ve all grown attached to you. In fact, and I meant to ask this before, but I wanted to know if you-”

“Excuse me, but can I talk to  _ my  _ CMO for a moment, Captain Kirk?” A voice from behind said. She was tall and human. Her accent was a mixture of Irish and northern London. She had rich brown hair in a pixie cut and dark skin, her eyes a blend of brown and black. Her voice held an authority Drizid had never heard before. Jim looked stunned, then slowly stepped back, “Thank you. From what I was hearing, it sounded like you wanted to steal him from me.” Her voice held a fake humorous tone.

“Not at all, Captain Noble. He’s uh- he’s all yours.” Jim had a weird look in his eyes as he left.

“I apologize for interrupting, Dr. Stevens, it’s simply that one can never tell when another Captain might snatch up a cadet. Anyways, I wanted to discuss with you the plans we have for our mission.” She gave him a polite smile, which Drizid tried his best to return.

“Oh, uhm, alright. What about it?” He asked, trying to focus on his new Captain. Though it was rather hard, because of how rude she came off at first impression. 

On the contrary of how she acted towards Kirk, Captain Noble was very polite to Drizid. She had a strong posture and walked with authority, but her voice held nothing but fondness for the young boy. Though, Drizid did notice the glares she sent to any of the  _ Enterprise _ crew for as much as trying to walk over to congratulate Drizid. He’d be able to see them tonight, so why was he feeling guilty? It wasn’t his fault that they didn’t send him a request to join their crew. Shaking away the angry thoughts he had, he focused on the conversation at hand. The schedule changed. What was supposed to be four days turned into one evening. They got a distress signal from a ship in the Galigo System, and need to recharge the ships engines before taking off, which usually takes fifteen hours. Drizid would only have the party before he left with them. Masking his pain fairly well, he nodded. Captain Noble however, wasn’t fooled.

“Drizid, I know how much you wanted to be on the  _ U.S.S Enterprise _ , but if they truly wanted you,” Noble locked eyes with Kirk, who was leaning on a tree talking to Spock, both of them glancing over at Noble and Drizid. Noble raised her voice for the two to hear, “If they truly wanted you, they would have told you.” With that, she walked off.

Drizid wouldn’t lie to himself. The words hurt. They cut like broken glass. Maybe… maybe Noble was right. Maybe they were just lying to him. About how they liked him. Maybe it was out of pure pity for him. Drizid turned his head in the direction of Spock and Kirk and gave a small smile. He couldn’t exactly see their faces, they were either looking at him with pity or with a pleading look. It was pity, that’s what Drizid decided on. He waved at them before walking moderately fast away. The fact that he would see them all later tonight made him sick to his stomach. Were they doing it as some funny joke? To mess with his head? Drizid began to walk faster. He didn’t know who to believe. His new Captain, or a friendship that has been building up for the past six months. You should always have faith in your Captain, no matter what. And Noble didn’t seem like the lying type. Not to Drizid, anyway. 

“-id! Drizid, vait, hold on a meenute!” Pavel called from behind him, roughly grabbing his arm and forcing him to turn around.

“What?!” Drizid snapped, before taking a deep breath, “sorry, that was inappropriate.”

“Are you alvight? I heard vhat Keptain Noble said, about uz. Zhe crew. Do you- you don’t beliewe her, do you?” Pavel asked, his voice seeming like a plea for Drizid to not believe his Captain.

“I don’t know, Pavel. She has a point,” Drizid finally said, looking up with his pale yellow eyes, his cyber colored pupils growing long and cat like, “why would Jim tell me about how much you all ‘love me’ and about ‘the impression I made on you’ and not request me on his ship? Why- why would you all help me, but not want me around?” Drizid retaliated.

“Ve vant you around, Zhe keptain vas-”

“Was what? Was going to tell me to back off because he doesn’t want me to fuck you all over when you guys have to leave?” He tried to keep his voice down, he really did. But it was so hard. “I- I’m sorry. I just need to think things over.” Drizid looked down. It was easier to keep composure when you’re not staring at the reason why you lost it. 

Drizid proceeded to walk away, too emotional to continue talking. He called a cab and headed to his dorm. The place was empty, as every cadet was at the campus. Drizid wanted to enjoy the night, enjoy his party. The party that his aunt put so much time into planning. But now having a sense of doubt in the friendships he’s made, taking his frustrations out on Pavel, he can’t face them. He changed out of the old uniform and hopped into a cold shower, feeling the water like tiny cold bullets hit his skin. He wondered if he was dramatic, if he was naive to believe a woman he just met over friends. Well, if you could call them friends. He thought of them as friends, and in some part of him, he still does. But what is he to them? Is he some smart kid? A pity party? Nothing was calming Drizid down. Grabbing the towel, Drizid wrapped it around his waist and called his aunt.

“Hey, hey Grace. Uhm, I can’t do the party tonight.”

_ “What? Why? Did that crew cancel? I swear I’ll-” _

“No, no nothing like that. Just, uh, the plans for the ship changed. We’re leaving tomorrow morning and I want to pack and get ready for it.” He wasn’t lying. But he wasn’t telling the full truth. 

_ “Oh. okay. That’s a bummer, I know how much you were looking forward to hanging with them.” _

“Yeah. Me too.” Drizid scoffed out and hung up, lightly tossing his phone over to the bed.

When the call ended, Drizid changed into plaid pajama bottoms and a black t-shirt that said ‘Beastie Boys’ in big, white print. He had packed casual clothes and his essentials. He sat down on the couch and ran his fingers through his damp hair as it dripped on his forehead. He fell into a light sleep. As if his brain was still conscious, but his body was completely exhausted. He lazily moved his hand towards his phone and opened his eye-lids. His eyelids felt so damn heavy but he had to do this before it was too late. Maybe it already was, but he rather tell him either way.

**Me:** Hey Pavel. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have talked to you like I did. I was distressed about what Captain Noble told me, and I feel awful. You were so nice to me, and I screamed at you. You’re such an extraordinary person, and a remarkable friend. I’m sorry that my emotions clouded my judgement and cause you any pain at all. I wanted to tell you before I left tomorrow. 

**Pavel:** tomorrow? I thought you left in four days?

**Pavel:** Why did your aunt email me about the party being cancelled?

**Pavel:** Drizid??

***

If violence was legal, he would’ve punched Noble then and there. Kirk left the two alone, though he watched from a distance. He was hoping that no one had gotten to Drizid yet, but it was nothing more than a hopeful wish. Who wouldn’t go after the one with the highest grades? Kirk kicked the back of his foot. He’d met with the kid on occasion and he wanted to say it to him in person, but he was always interrupted. By something, anything. A loud honk from an angry driver on the road, A call coming in from the Admiral, etc. And now Drizid works for another Captain. He expected this much, but it still made him feel like shit. Drizid was a good kid, and deserved to have whatever he needed. Kirk just had to find a way to tell Chekov that his friend wasn’t going to be with them. That was the plan.

“Captain, there may be a chance we can get Dr. Stevens to leave with us.” Spock said behind Kirk, making him jump. 

“You think of something?” 

“Yes, Captain. If we tell him the truth, about how we all wish for him to be with our crew, he might pull out of the  _ U.S.S Seek _ .”

“And what’re those percentages, Spock?”

“As of now, there is a 87.3% chance it will work if we use the right phrasing.” When spock said those numbers, Jim lit up like a christmas tree.

“Great! Just gotta wait for her to leave, and then we’ll-”

_ “If they truly wanted you, they would’ve told you.” _

Jim stopped what he was doing. He did everything in his power to not storm over and point out everything wrong with what Noble just told Drizid. “What are those percents now, Spock?” He demanded.

“53.01%, Captain.”

Jim muttered out a string of explicit language before walking towards Captain Noble, who was an extremely fast walker. He was mad. Just, who would tell someone that? Especially a kid? Drizid was a strong kid, but words hurt more than actions sometimes. This was one of those times. Anyone who can easily tell someone else that a third party doesn’t care about them is someone who’s practically begging for a fist to the jaw in Jim’s opinion. Even though Spock’s percentage was still fairly high, which gave Jim a bit of hope that he could fix this, it’s still low. And Spock had mentioned that it’d be that high with using the right phrases. If Jim phrases something badly, he could fuck up everything. Having Noble in his sights, he caught up with her pace so that he was walking alongside her.

“Why would you tell him something like that?” Kirk asked abruptly.

“Tell him what, Captain Kirk? I simply stated an obvious fact of you leading him on.” Her posture was as straight as a pencil as she stared down at Kirk who had a look of pure confusion.

“I wasn’t leading him on, I was gonna ask him before  _ you  _ interrupted.” Jim exclaimed.

“And you still would have been too late,” Noble stopped walking and turned to face Jim with cold eyes, “my crew is my family. As I am theirs. Drizid is apart of the family now, and as his Captain it is my duty to assist him in any problems that may interfere with his work. You and your crew are that very problem. From the looks he was giving all of you on our walk, it was easy to tell that he wanted to be on your crew more than he wanted to be on mine. However, you never sent him an invite did you? Because if you had, we wouldn’t be having this conversation. Would we?” Noble stated, crossing her arms over her chest.

“I- no.” Jim admitted, coming off his high horse.

“Exactly. Like it or not, you made that poor kid believe that he would receive an invitation from you for  _ months _ . You made him think that he was wanted on your crew, then never took the time to type up a goddamn email.” Noble took in a sharp breath and uncrossed her arms, placing them at her sides as she lowered her voice, “you let him put trust in you, then ripped the rug from under his feet. You disgust me, Kirk.” Noble had venom in her voice as she picked up her pace again.

“Okay, yes I made a mistake,” Kirk said from behind Noble, running to catch up to her, “I should’ve sent an email, told him sooner, I admit it. But I can’t tell my crew I failed. We all adore him, he’s like our own. We can’t-  _ I  _ can’t lose him. Not yet.” Kirk thought he saw Noble stop moving.

“You’ve already lost him, kirk.” She said, as she turned her head, “but he hasn’t lost you.” 

Jim didn’t understand what she meant as she walked away from him. He wanted to chase her down again, but he knew the conversation would’ve been the same as the one before. He had lost. He drifted back to the tree he was at before and sighed, looking at Spock before shaking his head. If Spock felt anything, he didn’t show it. He usually doesn’t anyway. But right now, Jim needed someone who would show him that they were as distraught as he was at the moment. But telling any of the crew would absolutely crush them. He had to figure out a way to get Drizid back. He had four days, which was a short timeline but it was better than anything. 

When the graduation party on campus ended, the crew headed back to their hotel. Jim took note that Chekov seemed unusually miserable from when he got to the campus to when they left. Before he could ask anything to the navigator, he took out his phone and opened what he assumed was a messaging app. He knew it wasn’t any of his business, but he became both intrigued and a tad bothered when he saw an array of regret and solumness pass over the young man’s features. Jim’s curiosity grew even more when he saw Chekov show a look of anxiety clear as day. Chekov looked up from his phone and looked at Jim immediately.

“Keptain, zomezhing haz changed with Drizid.” Chekov said loud enough for everyone to hear.

“What’s changed?” Jim demanded. He prayed that maybe Drizid would side with them.

“He’s leaving tomorrow morning, Keptain. Zhe party iz cancelled az vell.”

“Where is he going? I thought he was coming with us?” Bones asked confused, looking at Jim for an answer.

“He was- or was supposed too. It’s complicated. Chekov, what else does his message say.”

“Uh, zhat he iz zorry for znapping at me, personal zhingz. But vhen ve vere arguing, he said zhat he vas ‘going to fuck us all over.’” Chekov sounded so heart broken when he said those words. 

Jim gave a quick order for everyone to get to the hotel as he broke into a sprint towards the Medical Dormitory. Not even apologizing to anyone he ran into, he kept his focus on the street crossings and the roads ahead of him. It was already 22:56 and the dormitories were across town. It would take Jim a good hour worth of sprinting to get there. But it was either that or leave the kid for a long ass time till maybe,  _ maybe _ they’d see each other at Ship Docks. By the time the dormitories were in his line of vision, it was 23:44. He was so close, but his lungs were in hell and his eyelids were as heavy as boulders. Jim sprinted still, leaning heavily on the dormitory wall for support as he caught his breath. He checked his watch once he had caught his breath. 23:55. He jogged up the flight of stairs to Drizid’s floor, where he repeatedly banged on the doors until they slid open.

“What the ever living  _ fuck  _ are you doing banging on my door at midnight you stupid ass son of a- oh. It’s you.” Drizid stood at the door frame, cleary woken up from sleeping. His hair was messy and he was in pajamas. Jim would make a comment on the shirt, but decided now wasn’t the best time.

“Can I come inside, Drizid?” Jim asked between panting for air.

“It’s ‘may I come inside’.” Drizid corrected. Drizid wasn’t someone you’d want to wake up. His filter stops working and he becomes an asshole. 

“May I come inside.” 

“. . . you may.” Drizid walked away from the doorway and into the kitchen where he poured glasses of water for himself and Jim. “Why are you here? Come to mock me? ‘Hahaha, Drizid is a pitiful little halfbreed who’s naive enough to believe that he had made any friends for the past six months!’ Just get it out now.” He said cooly as he leaned back on his oven, sipping his water.

“No, no Drizid I’d never do that. I came here to-”

“To tell me that you don’t want me on your ship? I know already.”

“Would you let me finish?!” Jim jumped down Drizid’s throat, making the younger man freeze and go quiet, “sorry. I’m sorry. I meant to ask you to join my crew months ago. I just never found the time. I was always interrupted and now you’re- you’re on another ship with another Captain who cares about you.” Jim loses a bit of confidence when he admitted his mistakes. He stares down at his glass of water, waiting for Drizid to say something. Anything.

“Do you want something to eat, Jim?” Drizid asked, catching Jim off guard. “I have eggs and bacon, some left over salad, I can make baked potatoes and chili-”

“Kid, what are you doing?” Jim asked flabbergasted.

“Oh. It’s a Yorktown thing. When two people are having a long discussion on transfers, usually they talk over food to calm nerves. If you don’t want anything to eat, I can make coffee, tea, or juice.” Drizid shrugged, looking at the ground. He didn’t see the ghost smile that danced across Jim’s face.

“Tea would be great.”

As Drizid prepared the tea, the two both began to talk casually. Jim admitted to all the times he tried to ask Drizid to join his crew and everytime he was interrupted. How amazed he was when he heard all of the things that the kid’s done, even though he’s so young. Drizid then proceeded to say that everything he’s done pales in comparison to Jim.

“You’ve saved the fuckin’ world.  _ Three times.  _ I’ve given out money.” Drizid stated as he poured the milk in the tea.

“You helped house teens. That’s still amazing and what are you doing to the tea?” Jim asked, pointing to the two steaming mugs.

“. . .pouring the milk and honey?” 

“Do you know how to make tea?” Jim asked jokingly.

“It’s the ‘british’ way. My mom, she was raised in London on Earth. She made the tea like this all the time. Drove my dad insane.” Drizid laughed to himself, thinking back to all the fun he used to have with his parents as he handed Jim a mug. “So, why should I join you?”

“What.”

“You came here to tell me to transfer over to the Enterprise. You have to give me reasons. What does the Enterprise have the the Seek doesn’t?” Drizid asked as he sipped the hot drink in his hands. 

“Uh, we have friends that care for you-”

“So does the Seek.”

“Fair point.” Jim gave in, then looked at Drizid’s shirt and got an idea, “I can’t say that we have things that’ll convince you.  _ So What’cha Want _ me to say?” Jim asked and he could’ve sworn he saw Drizid’s eyes widen comically.

“I don’t know, Jim. You gotta  _ Get It Together  _ and tell me why I should be with you all.” Drizid grinned.

“Well, in this  _ Intergalactic  _ universe, There’s only one Enterprise. And there’s only one Drizid Stevens. Everyone likes you, Kid. Right from when we saw Chekov’s eyes light up when he saw you all those months back, we knew that you were a good guy. We’d be in your  _ Gratitude  _ if you would give being a crew member with us a  _ Sure Shot _ .” Even through the puns, Jim was sincere.

“Isn’t this  _ Sabotage?”  _ Drizid asked, then laughed a bit, “You’re right though. And if it’s alright with you, I’d like your help in writing my transfer request, Captain.”

Jim smiled and took a sip of his tea. God it was awful. Who the hell puts milk and honey in tea? Insane people. Or in this case, the brits.


	5. Four in the Morning

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Drizid is officially on the U.S.S Enterprise. But about a third of the crew is from Yorktown and despise him and the others are either terrified of him or to intimidated to approach him. When your closest friend works on the bridge and the other in the engines, it can get lonely.

Drizid breathed in the fresh morning air as he held his suit bag over one shoulder. It’s been two weeks since he sent out his transfer request which was thankfully received with good news. Captain Noble wanted what was best for him, and if he felt like that was the Enterprise, than she agreed. He stared up at the white ship in awe. It’s different to have a ship described to you and to actually see it. She was huge, her wings glowed with a calming blue that set the half breed at ease. He was going into space.  _ Space _ . As his idol’s Ensign. Drizid was both terrified and over excited. His friend, Lee, caught up to him from behind. He patted Drizid’s shoulder and laughed a bit.

“Glad you’re here, mate. Excited to put on a blue shirt and that signature StarFleet pin?” He asked. Drizid ruffled Lee’s black hair playfully.

“Over the moon. And you? Gettin’ a red shirt. Working on those engines?”

“Oh hell yeah. God they’re like nothing I’ve ever seen before. Amazingly designed and some people think that they’re capable of a faster warp than Warp 10.” 

“I assume that’s fast?”

“Hey, don’t sass me, Devil Boy,” Lee used the nickname he gave Drizid after his horns, “I gotta report to my station. You should too, Dr. Devil.”

“Stop calling me that!” Drizid called after his friend, though it was rather pointless. He chuckled and walked over to where the new medical workers were. He recognized some of them from his floor in the dormitory. Some of them smiled and waved while others glared. Drizid didn’t blame them, it probably seemed like he was favored onto the ship. It didn’t bother him as much as he thought it would, though. He stood awkwardly, playing with the strings on his ripped jeans as they all waited for a nurse to take them onto the ship. He had headphones on, too tired to talk to anyone who he didn’t know. It also kept people away from him. Which he was grateful for. He immediately ripped them out when a woman in a blue dress and StarFleet pin stood in front of them. 

“Hello, Doctors and Nurses. I’m Nurse Chapel, I’ll be leading you onto the Enterprise and giving you a tour of the Medical Bay. Please follow me.” Nurse Chapel smiled sweetly at them before walking towards the lowered stairs of the ship.

The new medical staff followed straight after. All of them looked at the ship in utter disbelief. She was as beautiful as everyone said. Even if her design was simple, she was magnificent. Drizid had to run to catch up with the others because he got distracted by the blue glow of the engines. The halls were a bright white, the top and bottom of the walls were lined with a baby blue. The black floors reflected the white ceiling and each and every staff member. Sliding doors were maybe a yard away from each other, each door leading to either a room or a working space. Drizid’s eyes were wide in curiosity as they entered the Medical Bay. The floors were tiled black and the walls were lined with white hospital beds. By each bed were trays that had medical tools laid out on display. The ceiling curved into a dome shape as it got higher. Behind them, were two octagon shaped sliding glass doors. A black plack on the wall of the black door read “Chief Medical’s Office”. From the inside, the newbies could see Dr. McCoy working at his desk, not noticing them starring. Every medical student in Yorktown idolized him. And for good reason. He brought back his Captain from the dead. In all of StarFleet’s history, no CMO has ever done that. Just being on the same ship as him felt like an honor. But to work under him, or in Drizid’s case, with him, felt like a dream.

“Everyone take a seat on one of the beds, I’ll do a roll call and point you to your work space.” Chapel instructed as she began to call out everyone’s names. Drizid’s name was last, “Stevens, Drizid.”

“Present, ma’am.” He raised his hand to get Chapel’s attention, who typed something in her P.A.D.D and then looked at him with a smile.

“You’ll be working with Dr. McCoy personally, correct?” She asked him. Drizid would be stupid if he didn’t the dirty looks that the other medical staff gave him.

“Y-yes, ma’am.”

“You have a desk in his office, he’s waiting for you.” Chapel gestured to the glass doors behind her. Drizid stiffly nodded and got up from where he sat and walked over to the glass doors.

The walk felt longer than it was in reality. He could feel the hot glares he received from his peers. He knew that he would be accused of favoritism from over the past months, but dammit he was just happy that he was able to work with his idol. Being on the ship meant everything to him. From the friends he’s already made, he’s been looking forward to the moment he’s in space with them ever since graduation. Hell even before. But now that it’s really, truly, here, it scares the boy. A third of the medical staff already hate him from out-shining them in cadet days and now doing it again on a ship. He just hoped he could make more friends here than he had in Yorktown. He didn’t notice that he was already in Dr. McCoy’s office. Dr. McCoy hadn’t noticed him either, engrossed in his reports.

“Uh, Dr. McCoy?” Drizid asked nervously, his hands picking at his jeans. Dr. McCoy looked up in surprise.

“Oh. You’re here already?”

“I- I can leave if you’re busy, sir-” Drizid gestured to the doors.

“No, no it’s okay. I just lost track of time. It’s good to see you again, Drizid,” Dr. McCoy walked around his desk and held out his hand to shake, “I’ll help you get used to the work schedule and then we head to the bridge to watch blast off.”

“Aren’t only Bridge Staff allowed to watch blast off?” Drizid asked confused, shaking his idol’s hand.

“Let’s just say we’re VIP. Anyway, here’s your P.A.D.D that has all of the patients you’ll see today. We’re just doing physical exams today which isn’t so bad, there’s just over two-hundred of em. You’ll be doin’ that till 11:00 hours. Medical Staff get lunch early at 11:30 hours than back to physicals till 16:00 hours, then we watch blast off, then dinner. Got it?” Drizid nodded absently, causing Dr. McCoy to laugh lightly, “Let’s hope so, kid.”

Once the two left the office, Dr. McCoy gave a speech about how the Medical Bay should be as quiet as possible in the morning, as he wasn’t a morning person and would person skin whoever as much sneezes to loudly. The new staff were instructed to head to their quarters and change into their uniform, then head back to the Medical Bay to get to work. Drizid’s room was three doors away from the Medical Bay, which was nice. He stared at himself in the mirror, fidgeting with the black collar of the uniform. He had his brown contacts in, though now they seemed weird on him. As if suddenly he hated them. Taking them out though was a huge no. He didn’t want to imagine his peers’ reactions if they saw his real eyes. He kept the contacts in and slipped into black combat boots before grabbing his P.A.D.D and heading back to the Med. Bay. He was the third to arrive that was staff and they already had a line of patients. Heading over to one of the beds, he gestured to the next patient to sit down near him.

“Name, rank, and age ple- oh. Hi Pavel.” Drizid cut himself off, staring at his patient startled. He and Pavel haven’t talked since those text messages from two weeks ago. Drizid didn’t exactly know how to respond to them, so he just didn’t. Which probably wasn’t the best idea. As he was almost thrown to the ground from a bear hug. He smiled and hugged back. Not as tight, but still close.

“Hey Lovebirds, either give the physical or take it to your quarters!” Dr. McCoy called to them from a hospital bed a few feet away from them. There was no malis in his tone, as he smiled at the two of them. Drizid cleared his throat and pushed away from Pavel.

“Uh, let me uhm, take your heart rate, Chekov.” Drizid said as he pulled out one of the scanning devices that they use. 

“How haff you been, Drizid? I know ve didn’t leawe off on zhe bezt foot.” Pavel asked him.

“Doing good. I am sorry. Truly. I feel terrible about it. I know I should’ve dealt with the situation a lot better but- can you turn around for me? Thank you. But I was over emotional and I took it out on you which is inappropriate.” Drizid said as he scanned Pavel’s back.

“It’z fine, really. I know zhat you vere wery upzet. But it’z all better now.” Pavel said. Drizid could hear the hopeful smile on his friends face that made a ghost smile form on Drizid’s chapped lips.

“I guess it is.”

The day went on. Lunch time came and Drizid got to meet some of Lee’s friends who lightened up to him almost immediately. They saw each other as the Medical Staff’s lunch had only fifteen minutes left. It was still nice to see people who didn’t glare at him out of jealousy. He wondered if it was normal for an eighteen year old to be used to hang out with people in their twenties to thirties, but then again he’s not the average eighteen year old. When he was back in the Medical Bay, the day seemed to go by faster. During the exam season, they had shifts at the emergency hospital at night if they didn’t have a simulation. Drizid told himself that what they’re doing was just like that. Except it’s gonna be in space. 

“Alright. Everyone listen up,” Dr. McCoy called from the front of the Med Bay, “Chapel will show you all to the escape shuttles and explain what to do in case of a deadly emergency which usually happens at least every year while the Bridge prepares for blast off.” He explained to the new staff who stiffly nodded eyes wide and rushing out of the door with Chapel.

“Wait, you all get into deadly situations like every year, Sir?” Drizid aked dumbstruck.

“Depends on how stupid Jim is.” Dr. McCoy stated as he began to clean up the Med Bay.

“Wait, you can talk about him like that?” Drizid asked even more shocked than before. Dr. McCoy let out a laugh and turned to Drizid, “Kid he’s not as intimidating as you think. Once, the bridge screamed out ‘Captain on Bridge’ and he jumped so fuckin’ high he hit his head on the ceiling.” He said, patting Drizid on the shoulder, “trust me Drizid. Jim’s got the soul of a puppy when you get to know him.”

Drizid nodded and followed Dr. McCoy to the Bridge. From the time that he’s spent with the Captain, he could tell that he was a fun guy. But he didn’t expect that he was that laid back. As they walked, Drizid asked his mentor about how his time on the ship has been so far. It opened a whole new conversation of stories you’d only hear in movies and many jokes. The more he and Dr. McCoy got to talking, the more at ease Drizid got. He opened up about as much as he loved space and was excited to be in it soon, he was afraid about any and everything that could go wrong. Dr. McCoy scoffed as they entered the bridge.

“Lemme tell you, Stevens, the fear goes away with time, ever so slowly.”

“Bones! Stevens! Good to see you too.” The Captain called from his seat getting up to pull Dr. McCoy into a hug and shaking Drizid’s hand.

“Who- who’s Bones?” Drizid asked, looking at them confused.

“This guy. A name he got when we first met.” Kirk said, gesturing to Dr. McCoy who rolled his eyes.

“Beats me that out of all of the things I’ve said ‘bout myself, that ‘Bones’ is the one that stuck with you.”

Drizid bit back a smile at the twos antics as they entered the bridge. He waved a ‘hello’ at everyone and stood behind Pavel, who was sitting in his seat. Drizid jokingly ruffled Pavel’s curly hair, gaining the attention of his navigator friend. Pavel turned his head to face Drizid and smiled before turning back to his duties. Drizid looked out the window of the ship where the ship landing was. He heard a low hum of the engines turning on and felt the ship shake a bit as she began to take off. His eyes glowed with awe as the Enterprise began to leave the landing. He was leaving Yorktown. Finally out of that Colony and in space. Which was an adventure in an of itself. 

“Warp five, Mr. Sulu.” The Captain said from his chair.

The stars looked like the grew in length as the ship took off. They were different colors of blues and pinks, blending with each other as the Enterprise zoomed passed the stars. Is this what the bridge crew see on a normal basis? Is that why they all looked so normal as this was happening? Maybe it was a normal basis for them to see it. But for Drizid, it was something different, Something special he couldn’t exactly put into words. Drizid’s eyes wandered from the view at the window to the navigator in front of him. The colors from the stars seem to reflect off of Pavel’s snow pale skin like the sun on water. It was beautiful. Drizid was caught staring as Pavel looked up to face him. The navigator blushed, then looked at Drizid’s eyes.

“You haff your contactz in?” He asked Drizid, looking at the now brown eyes.

“Uh- yeah. Brown is more normal than yellow. And I thought that you-”

“ _ I? _ ”

“The staff would prefer them. Brown eyes aren’t as scary as yellow ones.” Drizid quickly changed the sentence and cleared his throat, hoping that Pavel forgot it already.

Pavel let out a soft ‘oh’ before returning back to his work. Drizid heard his mentor say that they had to head back to Med Bay, which Drizid was a bit thankful for. He walked behind Dr. McCoy and in complete silence. As they entered the Med Bay, a few doctors and nurses greeted them. Drizid nodded at them as they entered the now shared office. Dr. McCoy said something about filling out reports and having Drizid take certain medicines to certain people on the ship. The brunett nodded and left the office with the tray of medication held out in front of him. Most of the meds were for low calcium and low blood sugar. He gave the medication to the staff members who needed and then went back to the Med Bay. As he walked by a hall, he heard something. It sounded like crying.

“Hey, do you hear that?” Drizid asked the human staff next to him.

“Nope. Must be your imagination, dude.” She said back before walking away. Drizid had to remind himself that humans don’t have hearing like he does. Not wanting to leave whoever was crying alone, he followed the soft noise down the corridor until he reached a fork in the road. The crying was louder on the left side, so he turned there and continued down until he saw a girl in a red dress. She had ear length brown hair and bangs. Her skin was a latte shade, her knees to her chest. She hasn’t noticed Drizid standing there.

“Uh, are you alright miss?” He asked awkwardly, taking a few steps forward.

“Y-yeah, I just, I uhm,” The girl sniffled and started rushing to get up before stopping, looking at Drizid in a mix of shock and wonder, “I just freaked myself out for a second. But I’m good now.”

“Your knee is bleeding.” Drizid pointed at it before bending down, taking out a standard healing tool and scanning the skin, making new tissue grow over the dead cells. He pushed himself off the ground, smiled politely, then turned to leave. 

“Wait! Uhm, you- your the CMO’s apprentice, right?” The girl asked.

“Yeah. Stevens, Drizid. Why do you wanna know?” Drizid asked, now turned back to look at the girl. Her eyes were a calming lavender color.

“I’m Cleo, engineer. I saw you when we were breaking into our groups. Uhm, would you maybe like to have dinner with me and my friends? We-we saw you when you left the cafeteria, you looked kinda lonely so I thought-” She stammered, pushing her hair behind her ears.

“That sounds fun, Cleo. Want to walk down together? We have to get down there now anyway.” Drizid said smiling. Cleo nodded and lead the way to the cafeteria. 

***

It’s been two months since they left Yorktown and currently Drizid and a small team of doctors were awaiting the return of the ground party who were sent to explore a planet with high levels of vegetation. Throughout the time, Drizid’s been able to build a stable friendship with Cleo. She was a sweet girl who was born in Chicago, Earth. They hung out whenever they could, which was pretty often as their weren’t many patients in the Med Bay and the engines were almost always working. Cleo was apart of the ground party, it was her first time being off of the ship and on a new planet. Well, as a mission anyway. She always talked about how much she wanted to visit a planet.

_ “God, can you imagine meeting a species that doesn’t want to kill you?” Cleo jested. _

_ “I can imagine it, yes.” Drizid answered, sipping the tea he poured himself. _

_ “I’ll see you when I get back, yeah? And then we can talk more on imagining things.” Cleo smiled and left the table, almost skipping from excitement. _

That was earlier in the morning. Drizid and his team began to get impatient. The ground party should be back by now. Cleo was supposed to hail the  _ Enterprise  _ for the beam back up thirty minutes ago. None of them were opening their comms and Drizid would be lying if he said he wasn’t a bit worried over them. He wasn’t the only one. Two other engineers were trying to locate the party to beam them up the all clear coming from them. Who could blame them when the all clear should’ve come in half an hour ago. One of the engineers muttered that they locked onto the ground party and were ready to beam up.

“Beam up, Timmerman.” Scotty directed the engineer.

Glowing gold rims surrounded the ground party as they beamed aboard. As their frames came into focus, it became very clear that they were frantic. Someone was holding another up by an arm. Once the gold rims were gone, it became clear what was causing a panic. It was Cleo. The hair she had on the left of her scalp looked like it was ripped out, along with the first few layers of flesh. Her right knee was shattered and the bone was poking out of her thigh. Her eyes had claw marks and her neck had thornes impaled in it. Her red dress looked black from all of the blood seeping into it. Drizid stilled as his team ran to grab Cleo from who was holding her and lay her out on a stretcher. He snapped out of his daze just as fast as he went in it and ran with his team to the Med Bay. Any patient that was in there was quickly told to leave as the team entered the Surgery Room. 

“Vitals dropping, permission to activate Computer Life, Doctor?”

_ That’s your friend. Your friend on the medical bed. Look at her, she looks barely human. _

“Doctor?”

_ You can’t save her. No one can, look at her. Can you even call  _ that  _ a  _ her _? _

“Doctor?!”

_ Pay attention. _

“Doctor Stevens?!” A team member yelled at Drizid.

“Permission granted. Uh, Vieman scan her for poison. Scigliano help me remove the thorns. Hilo hook it up- _ her  _ up to the monitors.” Drizid instructed and everyone went to work immediately. As Scigliano and Drizid removed the thorns, a weird white puss spilled out from the holes of where the thorns stuck into Cleo’s skin. An unidentified poison was inside the puss which would kill Cleo in an estimated forty-five minutes. Drizid took a sample of the puss and put it into atub, sending it to the lab to make a fast remedy for Cleo. It would have to be fast if they want to beat the odds. But the thought of saving her began to slip with every beep coming from the heart monitor. 

“Doctor, percentage of survival at 23.07% and dropping.” Scigliano stated, her voice soft.

“Hilo get that antidote from the Lab now.” Drizid commanded, busy with scooping the poison puss out of his friend’s stomach. Hilo didn’t say anything, they just ran out of the room. 

“Stevens, there’s no way she can survive for another five minutes, we don’t even know how to stop the pus from creating more in her.” Vieman shook his head. “We can’t save her.”

“Percentage of survival 14%, sir.” Scigliano’s voice cracked as she looked at the body on the table.

“Hilo give me the antidote, now.” Drizid held his hand out.

“But Doctor, we don’t know if it’ll cause other health problems yet. We have to test it out on another being before we can-”

“I said  _ give me the tube, Hilo!”  _ Drizid’s voice sound other wordly as his diamond scales seemed to shoot up like small daggers on his cheeks to his neck. Hilo dropped the vile into Drizid’s outstretched palm, shaking in terror. Without thinking, Drizid stabbed the vile into his friend’s neck.

“. . . Vitals at 17%. . . 24.98%. . . 32.56%. . . 47%. . .” Scigliano’s eyes lit up as she read the numbers. Drizid let out a sigh of relief and swallowed the lump in his throat.

“Let’s heal her broken bones and clear her out.” Drizid commanded, his voice was normal. The team smiled, thankful that the cure worked. The puss stopped reproducing once the antidote was in, it became easier to clean it out. It was beyond disgusting though. With a few quick scans, any remaining wounds from the attack were gone, all healed. They left the surgery room and left Cleo alone to sleep. On the outside of the room, one of Cleo’s friends, Nathan, faced Drizid with a look that can only be described as panic.

“Stevens, is she?” Nathan couldn’t finish his sentence. But he watched as Drizid let out a small smiled and nodded. Nathan’s face was washed over with joy and he pulled Drizid into a hug. The half breed stiffened at the unnecessary physical attention, but patted his friend’s shoulder in comfort.

“Stevens, report.” Dr. McCoy asked from behind Nathan. Drizid pushed away from his friend to face his mentor.

“Ms. Luca was infected by an unknown venom which created a pus like substance, filling her body. The pus is now being taken to the lab to be tested to figure out how it works and how to create more antidotes if anyone else is to be infected. As well as vaccines for it.”

“Percentage of Survival, Scigliano?” Dr. McCoy asked the girl who stood behind Drizid.

“U-uhm, 47.06% Doctor.” She answered. Dr. McCoy nodded and looked at Nathan, face solemn.

“Park, understand that with a percentage that low, there’s more of a chance that Ms. Luca will die than live.” He said, making sure that Nathan had enough time to take in the information.

“Dr. McCoy, I have complete trust in Drizid and that he saved my friend. I know he did.” Nathan smiled at the CMO then left. Dr. McCoy let out a sigh and looked at Drizid, who didn’t seem as confident as Nathan.

“Stevens I want you in the lab working with them on the pus until dinner.”

“Yes sir.”

“And Stevens?”

“Yes sir?”

“Good job.”

Drizid smiled and nodded before heading down to the lab. Even with a low percentage, Drizid believed that Cleo could pull through. She was incredibly strong, he knew that she’d be alright. He hoped she’d be alright. The lab was silent as always as one of the scientists informed Drizid on how far the antidote and vaccines were. The plant was named Lecovi. The Lecovi has a defense mechanism where if it feels threatened or if it senses a predator, it releases thorns that hold a poison which acts like an acid, feasting on the attackers fat and organs. It didn’t explain why Cleo was so beat up though. The plant certainly didn’t cause that. It couldn’t have. The antidote that Cleo had been given was being modified drastically, and vaccines were nearly complete. 

“Well done, Stevens. You saved a girl’s life. Almost.” A scientist said from behind Drizid. He sighed and turned to face the voice.

“Almost? What do you mean almost, Drake?” Drizid asked, crossing his arms over his chest.

“I’m talking about the percentage. Do you really think that that girl’s gonna live through the night? You have to be joking if you do.” Drake let out a scoff, sauntering over to Drizid till they were only inches apart. “I bet she’ll die before four in the morning.”

“Do not bet on the life of my patient, Drake.” Drizid said through gritted teeth.

“Is that an order,  _ ensign _ ?”

“It’s a friendly request.” Drizid glared hard before nodding at the other scientist politely and leaving the lab for dinner. He and Drake went way back. Drake was three years older than him and was pretty upset at Drizid. Mainly because the kid won six awards at StarFleet and he had only won two. The number didn’t mean much to Drizid, honestly he was just happy to be making a name for himself. But it meant a lot to Drake. Who made it his personal vendetta to hate anything Drizid does and anyone he hangs out with. To each their own, Drizid guesses as he enters the cafeteria.

“Drizid! I heard about Cleo, I am zo zorry. Iz zhere anyzhing you need?” Pavel ran from around the corner to catch up to Drizid.

“Uh, not at the moment. Though it would be nice if you ate dinner with me?” It sounded more like a question than it did a statement. 

“Of courze. I zhink zhat it’z pasta tonight.”

“Disgusting.” Drizid teased, making him and his friend laugh as they went to get dinner. Both of them had a weird boiling hatred for pasta. They just didn’t enjoy the dish. So when it was pasta night on the ship, they both got a salad and a beer. Anything is better than eating pasta. As they made it to their seats, Drizid could help but notice that his friend looked antsy, like he was hiding something. Every now and then he would stutter over a word and mutter under his breath in russian. Drizid wish he understood the language, but it just sounded like gibberish. When they sat down, Drizid had to ask, “Hey, are you okay? Did something happen on the bridge?”

“I’m fine, zhank you for asking. I’m just wery- uh- tired. I didn’t get much zleep last night, you know.” Pavel said and occupied himself with his salad.

“Why didn’t you come by the Med Bay? I could’ve given you a nightquil.”

“It’z fine. Really, you don’t haff to vorry.” Pavel said after swallowing lettuce. Drizid let out a small laugh.

“Ya know, if I didn’t know any better I’d say your avoiding me.”

“ _ No! _ ” Pavel said with a surprising amount of passion, then clearing his throat and eyeing what food was left on his plate, “I mean, I vas just not zhinking straight. I’ll come by after.”

“Okay. . . if anything’s up, you can tell me.” Drizid said, regaining himself after his friend’s lost composure. Pavel nodded and switched the topic.

* * *

Drizid got to his quarters earlier than he thought he would. He cleaned up the Med Bay and checked on Cleo before calling it a night. He was emotionally and physically drained. His usually uncomfortable bed felt like heaven right about now. He couldn’t find the energy to change out of his uniform and into pajamas as sleep wrapped her arms around him and pulled him into unconsciousness. 

_ It felt like Drizid fell onto a hard floor. Everything around him was black except the floor, which was a mirror. He pushed himself off of the reflective ground and looked around him, hoping for any sign of another living thing. But it was empty. He tried to call out for help, but no sound came out of his throat. Nothing other than labored breathing. Drizid walked what he could only assume was straight ahead of him, but it felt like he wasn’t moving at all. His walking became faster and his breathing came out faster than before. If he was running, he couldn’t tell. If he was yelling, he couldn’t hear. It was silent. Completely still. Drizid stopped running and bent down to catch his breath. When he looked up, he saw Cleo. She looked like how he first saw her. Her eyes puffy from crying. The waist of her dress a bit wrinkled from being scrunched up from sitting. Her hair a little matted, her nose a little runny.  _

_ “Save me.” Her voice echoed throughout the black plane. Drizid squinted in confusion and reached his hand out to touch her. When he felt the cold skin on her wrist is when it happened. Her skin began to blister and heat up. Her eyes that were slightly red from before were now an ugly scarlet from breaking blood vessels. Pus was flowing out of her ears, her nose, the corners of her eyes and out of her mouth. Her body began to violently shake and the hues of her eyes turned into a glossy white. Drizid stepped back in fear, but felt something grab his calves, keeping him still. He looked down and found the the mirror floor had grown arms and hands to keep him from leaving. He looked at his friend as her skin began to peel off and hair fall out. Her teeth began to melt and her cheeks sunk in. She reached her hand out as her body crumpled to the ground. _

__

_ “ _ **_s̵̟͌͗̄̎̾̍̊͋͘a̴͚̜̋̈́̃͒̿͒̀͋͠͝ṽ̶̮͍͇͇̝͚̥͌̌͋̓͛̏̿̽̑̿̔̽̊͜͠ͅe̷̢̨̻̤̟̩̪͍͔̯̰͈͗̏̽̄̃͘͠ ̴̡̧̹͕̮͕̉̇̅͝m̵͖͇̯͉̯̋̒̄e̴̝͔̹̺͋̈́͐̅̎̈̐͘͜!_ ** _ ” _

Drizid rolled off his bed and hit the black marble floor with a thud. He clumsily got off of the floor and ran out of his quarters and across the hall to the Med Bay. It was completely empty, so it must be late. Or was it early? Drizid shakily entered a code to get into the Surgery Room. When the doors opened he wanted to vomit. There was an overwhelming smell of burning flesh and citrus. He covered his nose with his arm and walked in, trying his best not to gag. But when he saw Cleo, nothing stopped the vomit from flowing out of his mouth. The body in front of him looked exactly like the one in his dream. Her flesh was liquefied and dripping off of the metal table. Her eyes were white and her hair was gone. Pus continued to spill from her ears and mouth. She was nothing more than a skeleton now. Steam rose from her bones. Drizid let out a strangled sob when reality hit him. His friend was dead. She was swimming in her own skin, blood, and organs. If you saw what was left of her, you wouldn’t even be able to tell that she was a human. Drizid heard loud running from behind him. An alarm was blaring. Probably because of the fumes. 

“Stevens, what's going- oh god. Stevens get out of there!” Someone yelled at him, but he couldn’t bring himself to move. He couldn’t bring himself to do anything. Not when his friend was like  _ that _ . When he felt a strong pair of arms pull him out of the room, he didn’t even fight back. He was limp until the person let go of him. He collapsed on the ground crying. The person rubbed circles in his back and angled him to be facing away from the corpse. “Calm down son, just breathe. Breathe with me, okay? Breathe in. . . breathe out. You’re gonna be alright, just breathe.”

Drizid recognized his mentors voice and focused hard on it, trying to bury the image of Cleo in the back of his skull. He regained his breath after fifteen minutes or so and shakily sat up to lock eyes with Dr. McCoy. He looked ash ton pale, but composed. Drizid swallowed hard and let out breaths of air and very slowly pushed himself off of the floor. He repeatedly wiped his hands on his pants, re sighting a lullaby in his head as he focused on anything over than the pool of human flesh that was behind him. 

“She-she- I don’t know what happened, she had a cure- she just- I don’t-” He couldn’t form a proper sentence, so he took another deep breath, “I saw her b-before this, she was blistering and- and pus was f-falling out of her like water from a faucet. She was sh-shaking like she was having a seizure she- she’s dead.” Drizid sounded empty at the end of his tangent. The thought of his friend not being around anymore sinking in. His eyes were so clouded with tears that he couldn’t see the look of sympathy his mentor was giving him. He heard more footsteps and looked at the door. Nathan came running into the Med Bay, Pavel following behind.

“Where is she?! Is she okay?! What is that smell, Drizid, tell me she’s okay, please.” Nathan ran up to Drizid and put his hands on his shoulders. Drizid stiffly shook his head from side to side.

“The puss. . . something happened, the antidote didn’t work. . . I am sorry but Cleo-” Before Drizid could finish, he felt a throbbing pain hit his jaw and he stumbled to a medical bed, grabbing the frame for support. He heard wrestling behind him and turned in time to see Dr. McCoy and another medical staff member dragging Nathan out of the Med Bay. Drizid looked away from them and turned his attention to Pavel, who was the closest to him. The russian had a mix of restlessness and concern written on his face. Drizid took one small step. Two small steps. Three. Four. He fell into his friends embrace and hugged Pavel tight, as if he let go that Pavel would slip through his fingers. Pavel gently hugged back, mumbling soft words that Drizid couldn’t hear. 

When he checked the time of Cleo’s passing, he felt sick to his stomach.

She passed at 3:48 AM. 

She didn’t live past four in the morning. 


	6. Stages

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Drizid is having trouble moving on from Cleo's untimely demise. Luckily, his friends will do their best to help him take small steps in the right direction.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally updated!! Sorry it's taken awhile, got caught up in summer homework. As my summer comes to an end, I'll try to make a schedule for chapter updates. Expect updates every Saturday and Tuesday.

Drizid doesn’t sleep much anymore. He started eating a little less. He didn’t laugh either. The best you could get out of him was a dry chuckle. He forced himself to work every hour of every day. Even on his breaks, he’d start writing a report or organize his desk. Anything to be busy. Drizid made sure that he kept his emotions in check. Meaning he shoved everything down in an emotion volcano and prays that it won’t ever explode. His work has not faltered since Cleo passed, if anything it got better, done faster. Currently, he was fiddling with his StarFleet badge, sitting at his desk blankly staring at his computer screen. It was 2:31 AM, and the Med Bay was empty. He told Dr. McCoy that he’d go back to his quarters when his report was complete. That was five hours ago. His report was finished six hours ago. Drizid sucked in a breath and leaned back in his chair, unconsciously letting his eyelids flutter shut.

_ Her parents weren’t at the funeral. How could they be? The funeral was in space. They never got to see their little girl. _

Sitting up and clearing his throat, Drizid shut off his computer and began to leave the Med Bay. When he found himself back in his quarters, he felt unusually tired. The past sleepless nights fell on him like cinder bricks. Drizid wiped his eyes free of tiredness and began to make coffee. He wasn’t going to fall asleep. As tired as he was, his mind wouldn’t allow him too. It would project the dead corpse of his friend in his mind. Make him unable to look away from it. She was dead. She was really dead. It didn’t sit well with Drizid, knowing that he’ll never see Cleo’s face during his breaks anymore. That he’d never be able to talk to her about how fun engineering was. He refused the idea that she was dead all together. 

Was it morning? He couldn’t tell, there was no holographic sun to tell him, no fake moon to tell him it was night either. The human body can go eleven days without sleep, not being completely human gave him the plus side of being able to stay awake for fifteen days. Drizid sighed and took a shower, changing into the dull uniform and walked across the hall to the Med Bay. It seemed completely empty, which he was grateful for. The last thing that Drizid needed was Chapel telling him how he needed sleep. He was fine. Taking a sip from the coffee he had made, he took a steady pace into the shared office with-

“You’re here early, Ensign.” Dr. McCoy said from behind Drizid. When Drizid turned to face his mentor, he saw Dr. McCoy’s arms were crossed over his chest and he looked either annoyed or worried. It was hard to tell. Drizid’s vision was blurry. Did Dr. McCoy always have a twin?

“Am I? Isn’t time irrelevant? So therefore, I’m just at my station…” Drizid’s voice trailed as he began to lean heavily on the wall. The boy could feel the sleepless days creeping up on him. Drizid blinked away the black spots in his sight and looked at Dr. McCoy who now definitely looked worried as he helped Drizid to his feet, taking out a tool and scanning his body. “‘M fine.”

“Bullshit. You haven’t slept for four-”

“Five.”

“Five days, Stevens. You have to sleep.”

“How?” Drizid asked, pushing himself off of the wall, feeling a sudden burst of emotion, “how can I go to sleep when all I see is  _ her  _ whenever I close my eyes?! Whenever I blink, whenever my eyesight goes fuzzy I see her, melted on the floor where I could’ve helped her.” Drizid’s voice was full of emotions that couldn’t be described, “and what makes it worse is that now the whole medical staff has lost trust in me. I mean, I should’ve come up with something to save her.”

“Stevens, listen to me, if you stay up another night, you’ll be one sleepless day closer to death. You’re dragging yourself into a slope that you don’t deserve to be in. You’re shaking from lack of sleep, and you’re showing very obvious signs of lightheadedness. What would you do if you had a patient like that?” Dr. McCoy asked, staring down Drizid with hard eyes.

“. . . tell them to go to sleep and write them an excuse to their chief for a five day break to catch up on the sleep they lost, as well as to recover from trauma.” He mumbled. When Drizid had said what he would do if it was someone else, it clicked a bit in his head.

“Then Stevens, as you’re doctor, and as your chief, I order you on a five day recovery break. I don’t want to see you in this Medical Bay unless you’re pushing a fever of over one-hundred and twenty degrees. And to make sure you sleep, I’ll have one of your friends check up on you, and I’ll check up on you as well. Now go back to your quarters.” The order in Dr. McCoy’s voice didn’t go unnoticed, and Drizid simply nodded and began to walk back to his room, too tired to fight him.

* * *

It was now 21:00 hours and Drizid was staring blankly at his ceiling on his bed. Technically speaking he was supposed to be asleep, but he didn’t really care. Next to his bed were two sleeping pills and a glass of water that was untouched, and the alien planned to keep it that way. At least that  _ was  _ his plan till he heard a knock on his door. It was one knock, so soft you wouldn’t be able to hear it at all. Drizid wondered if the person on the other side would just go away if Drizid didn’t answer. His wish wasn’t granted, as a loud, banging knock followed the angelic tap that was before it. The sudden noise made Drizid jump slightly before getting up and walking to the doors, entering a code for them to slide open.

“Hey Lee.” Drizid said lazily as he stepped out of the doorway, allowing his friend to come inside. Lee looked like he rushed over here, from how he was panting a bit. “Did you need something?”

“No. Just wanted to make sure that you went to bed.”

“Lee-”

“She was my friend too, Stevens.” Lee interrupted, staring at Drizid with pain soaked eyes, “but she’s gone now. And I won’t lose you too. I refuse too.” Something changed in Lee, Drizid could see that even with his blurred vision. He was scared.

“I know she was. You uh, you want tea? I have some in the pantry.” Drizid offered a change of subject.

“I want you to accept the fact that she’s gone, Drizid. I want you to sleep. Please.” The pleading in Lee’s voice didn’t go unnoticed.

“. . . I can try.” It’s the best he could do. Besides, fighting against Lee is something Drizid did not want to do. Anyone who chose to would lose, hands down. Lee sighed in relief and he sat on the couch in the quarters while Drizid laid out on the bed. Clearing his mind, he slowly let his eyelids fell shut, his vision going a calm black and the world around him becoming muffled white noise.

_ He was back in YorkTown. In his dormitory. No, not his dormitory, his old house. When he used to live with his mom and dad before they passed. It was a penthouse. The floors a white gold marble pattern that went up the walls, then turned into a cream white tile. From the ceiling were floating lantern designed lights, his father’s idea. A huge TV was implanted on one of the walls, a clean white leather couch sat across from it. Drizid felt a strange feeling of peace there. Like he could just stand in the hall and everything would be okay. He took small steps into the penthouse, looking around his old house in nostalgia. He made sure that he was a good distance from the windows, not wanting to look down onto the small heads and buildings below. He found himself walking into the kitchen and opening the fridge. _

_ There it was. _

_ The melted skin. The smoking bones. The rotting teeth. The deflated organs. It reached its skinless hand out in a means to touch Drizid. _

The halfbreed shot up straight, heaving for air. He held one hand over his beating heart and the other gripping the douvee of the bed ridiculously tight. His pupil became cat like and his scales pointed off of his face and neck like small daggers as his eyes darted around the room in horror. He was in his quarters on the Enterprise. He was lightyears away from YorkTown. She wasn’t real. It was just a dream. She wasn’t real. Drizid ran a hand through his hair and let out a small sigh of relief. Drizid took a deep breath and got up out of his bed and went to make tea. When he got to the stove, he heard Lee groan himself awake.

“What time is it?” He slurred out, drowsiness holding Lee deep in her clutches.

“It’s 6:15 hours, why- I slept all night.” Drizid interrupted himself and locked his wide eyes with his friend, who’s now fully awake from the statement. Drizid’s shocked face blossomed to joy, “Lee I slept the whole night!” 

“I told you that you could do it, mate!” Lee flailed off of the couch and brought Drizid into a hug, which for the first time, Drizid accepted with just as much force. “How was it?”

“I still had a nightmare about, well you know, but it wasn’t till the end of the dream.”

“What was the dream about?” Lee asked, making sure to stay away from the nightmare topic until Drizid was ready.

“I was back home. In my old penthouse where I lived with my mom and dad. It was night time, and the stars were bright and it smelled like home.” Drizid smiled at the happiness he had in his dream.

“I’m so proud of you, Devil Boy.” Lee laughed out, giving Drizid a nuggie.

“Gah, we were having a moment, ow!” Drizid playfully pushed Lee away, “besides, you have to get to your work, don’t you?” Drizid said and he watched Lee’s playful face fall into one of horror.

“Oh shit if I’m late Scotty’s gonna have my head on a platter-” Lee bolted out of Drizid’s quarters and down the hall to the engine room. Drizid shook his head and started the tea. It wouldn’t seem like a huge success to some, but for Drizid, being able to sleep for a whole night and only have a nightmare at the end of it was a huge accomplishment. Small steps, enjoy it while he can. Because he knows he has a long way to go before he can officially say that he’s moved on. 

* * *

Drizid seemed to get better after that night. The dark bags under his eyes began to vanish and he started to give the tiniest of smiles to people he was closest too. But overall, it was a step in the right direction. Drizid was on his third day of rest when he actually left his quarters and stepped into the hallway. His pupils became cat like at the sudden change of brightness. It was then when he realized that he didn’t have his contacts in. But the self-conscious thought vanished when he looked to the left of the hallway. Shit. In all of his glory, there stood Nathan. Drizid stared at his friend who hadn’t seemed to notice him. Drizid prayed that he didn’t notice him. Very quickly, Drizid walked in the opposite way, only to stop himself again. Double shit. Drake was on the other end of the hall. He swore that the gods had it out for him. He either walks passed the guy who socked him a few days prier, or passed the guy who predicted that Cleo would die. Both didn’t seem like attractive options. He found himself speed walking across the hall and straight into the-

“Stevens.”

_ Shit. _

“Dr. McCoy! Has your hair lost… weight?” Drizid asked. When the words escaped his mouth, he wanted to cringe at how pathetic he sounded. Dr. McCoy had his arms crossed over his chest, and had a glare plastered on his face, though the glare gave more of a concerned feeling than angry if Drizid was being honest. 

“I thought my instructions were clear, Drizid.” He stated, the glare dissolving into a look of sympathy.

“I’m not here to do work, don’t worry, just here to escape a confrontation.” Drizid immediately said, hoping to clear the situation. 

“A confrontation with-” Dr. McCoy cut himself off, as if he put two and two together. His arms uncrossed and his glance drifted to the door, then back to Drizid. “You can stay in the office for as long as you need, but if I see or hear you working I swear I’ll make sure that your resting period goes on for longer.” Most people would see that threat as a dream, but McCoy knew how much Drizid enjoyed being able to work. The boy nodded thankfully and practically ran into the office.

His desk was as neat as he left it. His P.A.D.D was next to his translucent computer screen, report papers and miscellaneous letters were stacked in alphabetical order on the left side of the desk. Right next to his computer was a framed picture of a young version of himself on his dad’s bacak, both of them smiling and laughing together. He picked up the framed photo and smiled at it. If he was honest, he didn’t remember his dad as much as he did his mom. He knew that his father was a brave and heroic man, that he would brag about how great Boston was and how one day, he’d take Drizid there to meet his grandparents and Aunt Ji-woo. He wondered if he’d ever be able to meet them now. If they remember him at all. Smiling sadly at the photo, he set it back down. Drizid heard the office doors slide open and he could sense his mentor’s presence from behind him. Drizid turned his head slightly to face him.

“I know I’ve asked about Earth already, but, if you don’t mind, what was it like where you grew up?” He asked poliety. Drizid watched as a mix of emotions passed over Dr. McCoy’s face before he smiled.

“Well, it was hot. Georgia’s always hot. The lowest temperature we’d get would be 64 degrees. But you could say that we were all used to it. It was beautiful when the magnolia’s would bloom. Their petals colored the streets and the sky with vibrant pinks and yellows and whites. Have you ever seen a magnolia before?” Drizid shook his head, though he was clearly interested in the plant. Dr. McCoy smiled sadly, “When we dock on Earth, I’ll be sure to bring one back from home to show ya. They’re too beautiful a flower to not see.” Dr. McCoy sat down at his desk.

“Do you have family in Georgia, Dr. McCoy?” Drizid asked, but when he saw a split second of a pained look cross Dr. McCoy’s face he took it back. “I-I’m sorry sir, I shouldn’t have asked.”

“No, it’s alright. If we’re gonna work together, it makes sense that we’d get to know one another. I have a family of sorts in Georgia.” McCoy responded, looking down slightly. 

“Oh… I have family in Boston.” Drizid said, changing the subject in a hope to cheer his mentor up a bit. It worked, as Dr. McCoy let out a surprised scoff.

“Boston?”

“Yeah, My uh, my dad was born and raised there. With his moms and his sister. He came to YorkTown as an exchange student, and stayed for my mom.”

“So that’s where part of your accent is from?”

“Yeah. I have a weird british boston accent.” The two of them laughed.

“Ya know, the Bridge and I were betting on where your accent was from.” McCoy confessed. Drizid laughed again, “I thought it was a northern british accent, Scotty thought it was some french new york mix. Jim was the furthest off, he thought it was german and canadian.”

Drizid let out an inhuman wheeze, causing McCoy to laugh.

“German and Canadian? Was he even trying?”

“He’s the one who betted $50 bucks on it. Then again, we all betted $50 bucks on it.”

“Who won the bet?” Drizid asked him, engaged in the story.

“Chekov did. Like he knew what the accent was from the start of it all.” McCoy shook his head, smile staining his face. Drizid bit back another smile as Dr. McCoy looked at him confused. “What’re you- wait, did Chekov already know?”

“Thank you for letting me stay here, Dr. McCoy!” Drizid very quickly left the office and the Med Bay all together. As he walked down the now clear hallway, he felt a little better than he did before. He’s been keeping himself occupied, making sure that Cleo was as far from his thoughts as possible. And it was working. Walking around the ship off duty was such a free feeling that Drizid decided that he would do it more often on his leave. Making a sharp turn to the left, he ran straight into the First Officer.

“My apologies, Commander. I didn’t see you there.” Drizid said, stepping back slightly from Spock.

“Quite alright, Ensign. In fact, I was on my way to speak with you.”

“I’m not in trouble, am I?” He asked, feeling a small pit in his stomach as he went through the past 24 hours in his head, making sure that he didn’t do anything.

“On the contrary, Ensign. I just need to clarify something with the Captain.” With that, Spock took off on the way to the bridge, Drizid following close behind him. If he wasn’t in trouble, why was he needed on the bridge? Maybe someone was hurt? Or maybe Spock needed a medical opinion on something. Yeah, that was it. Drizid tried to convince himself that that’s what had happened, but he knew that it was very unlikely to be true. When they reached the Bridge, the Captain got out of his chair and out Sulu in command, following Spock and Drizid into a small questioning room. Drizid shifted in his seat as his two higher ups stood.

“Drizid, I understand that this might be hard, but it’s just procedure. If I didn’t have to do this, I wouldn’t.” The Captain said sympathetically before continuing, “Drizid, when you saw Ms. Luca, can you describe what happened to her?” Drizid went pale. He was doing so good. 

“. . . She died of poison-”

“We mean, can you describe how it happened? What she went through before she died?” Captain interjected. Drizid sucked in a short breath.

“She was… shaking. Like a seizure. Her skin began to bubble and steam and her eyes began to m-melt.” The images flashed back in front of him again. “Pus came out from her mouth, eyes, and ears. Like she was drowning in it. Her teeth melted and her body steamed up and she- melted sir.”

“And you only saw her  _ after  _ the fact, correct? The Commander asked. Drizid looked up.

“After.”

“So it’s true.” The Captain mumbled. When Drizid looked up confused, he continued. “What you saw was, uhm-” He looked at the Commander for help.

“What you saw was a vision. It’s very rare for Cardassians, but when someone they consider a loved one is in danger, they’re able to see what’s going on hours before it happens. Seeing as your half Cardassian, you can see it minutes before it happened. And since we came up with the cure before she died-”

“I could’ve saved her…?” Drizid’s voice was so quiet that the two older men barely heard it. But the amount of devastation it held broke the Captains heart. 

“Stevens, It’s not your-”

“Yes. Logically speaking, you could have saved Ms. Luca."

“ _ Spock.” _ The Captain hissed out as Drizid took in the most shaky breath the two had ever heard. Spock seemed to understand what he said too late.

“Ensign, I apologize if I was insensitive.”

“I could’ve… with your permission, Captain, I would like to return to my quarters.” Drizid stood up, keeping his eyes locked down at his feet. The Captain nodded and Drizid stumbled out, then quickly ran back to his room. Any feeling he had earlier was crushed. He could’ve saved her. This wasn’t a ‘what if’ situation. He could have legitimately saved her.

* * *

“Drizid?”

It was silent on the other side of the door.

“Drizid, pleaze. Eweryone iz vorried. I’m vorried.” Pavel said from the other side. It was only two and a half hours since Drizid had found out about his friend. He wondered how many people Pavel was referring to when he said ‘everyone’. “Zhe Keptain told our friends vhat happened. Dr. McCoy vent off on Spock, and I zhink zhat Mr. Spock feels wery guilty because he didn’t protest to Dr. McCoy’s lecture.” pavel tried to lighten the mood. He always did that whenever he was anxious.

The doors slid open.

Pavel entered the room once the doors were open wide enough to fit him. He could barely see anything, the lights were dimmed so dark that it looked like night. He let his eyes adjust to the darkness before continuing to walk in the room. Drizid wasn’t on the couch like he usually was. No one was in the kitchen or the bathroom. A small relief escaped Pavel when he saw the bathroom door was wide open. The russian stood in front of the closed door in the quarters and lightly put his fist up against it, knocking so softly that only a butterfly could hear it. The door remained shut. Pavel didn’t knock again, he simply slid down the door and sat, back leaning against it. His knees were close to his chest and he fiddled with the StarFleet badge he had.

“Vhen ve first ewer took off on zhe  _ Enterprise _ , ve vere going to sawe Wulcan. Mr. Spock beamed down to sawe his mother and father. I vas able to lock onto all of zhem, but zomeshing vent vrong and I lost all connection vith Spock’s mother.” Pavel took in a breath, remembering the look of pain that Spock had when he beamed them up, “She died, Drizid. And it vas my fault. I owerlooked a simple thing, and Spock lost his mom because of it.” Pavel heard rustling from the other side of the door. “Drizid, I understand. I really do. Let me help,  _ please _ .”

The door unlocked and Pavel shot up, getting a small headache from the blood rush. When he was able to focus on his friend, he felt awful. Drizid’s hair was an utter mess, it spiked in certain places and in others it looked utterly normal. His bangs covered his eyes, but from what he could see, they were red and puffy. He had tear streaks that seemed to tighten his cheeks. His scales were pointed out defensively. His canines seemed more prominent than they usually were. Pavel took one look at his friend and pulled him into a hug. He felt a part of his cheek get small cuts, but he didn’t care. Pavel hugged Drizid with such force that Drizid could practically feel the amount of passion that it held. They stayed like that for a long time. Standing at the doorway in each other’s embrace. Pavel could feel the way that Drizid’s body was shaking.with each and every breath he shook like a leaf. Pavel ran a hand through Drizid’s soft hair and began to rub small intricate designs into his back. Drizid pulled back and stared at Pavel’s cut cheek.

“You’re hurt.”

“So are you.” Pavel answered solemnly. Drizid nodded and ambly walked to the bed. Pavel followed and they both laid down on the grey and black sheets.

“She was sweet. She would always smile and wave whenever she saw me, like I was something that made her happy. It was the first time that anyone, besides you and Lee, had done that to me before. She would make inside jokes with me and Nathan all the time. When we were on break, we’d always wait by the bridge for you, but since your job is more important than ours, we’d only see you during dinner. But we’d still always wait, thinking that one day you’d walk out those doors and join us.” Drizid had this nostalgic look in his eyes and he continued. “Cleo, she’d always get injured over the stupidest thing. Once, she tripped on her own shoe and fell onto Nathan, causing a domino effect on the people in front of her. She broke one of the glasses on the ship when she slammed it on the table too hard. But she’d always, uh, she’d say: ‘I am the god of destruction, anything I touch will eventually break until it becomes nothing but dust.’ I thought it was the funniest thing in the world.”

“Once, vhen ve vere alone together, Cleo told a story about her and her sister. Zhe one about how zheir teacher got stuck in a went?” Pavel asked, a sad smile across his face. Drizid shook his head, though he was intrigued. 

_ “I swear Pavel if you tell anyone this.” Cleo playfully threatened her friend, who laughed and put an ‘x’ over his heart. Cleo cleared her throat. “It was high school, my sister and I were in the same art class together. And are teacher sucked ass, I mean she was the worst person ever. Once when we got a test, she excused herself from the classroom. A guy next to me and his friend began to share their answers with one another. All of us started to do the same since we had finished the test. But my sister looked up and saw our teacher in the vent above us and just let out a scream because ‘why are you in a vent’ ya know? And as she tried to get out she couldn’t and we had to get staff to get her free.” Cleo and Pavel were both laughing so hard at the end of the story that they thought that they’d break a rub. _

“I never knew she liked to draw.” Drizid said, Pavel nodded. “Pav, I’m sorry.”

__ “Vhy? You did nozhing vrong.”

“I could’ve-”

“No you couldn’t haff. Ewen if you got zhere in time, you vould haff needed zhe cure from zhe lab vhich is a floor below. Drizid she’z dead. She’d be pissed if she saw you like zhis.”

“I know.”

“Zhen let me help you, ve can move on together.” Pavel said, bravely taking hold of Drizid’s hand and giving it a loving squeeze, “Drizid, I’ll newer leawe you to suffer alone.”

Drizid gave Pavel a grateful smile and brought him in for a hug. Which was rather new. Usually, it was someone hugging Drizid, not the other way around. But just this once, Drizid wanted to feel someone else. He wanted to listen to the steadiness of Pavel’s heartbeat. His friends breathing. Anything to remind him that Pavel was alive. He could move forward. He would. They will.


	7. Along the Ride

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is just a bunch of short stories to show Drizid's bonds with the main crew. It doesn't add anything to the main plot, but it does give more depth to his relationships.

It was early evening, Drizid was playing classic rock in his room. He finished his reports earlier and was allowed to go on a longer break before dinner, which was an absolute blessing. As much as he loved the idea of a schedule and work, it was nice to have a surprise break every once and awhile. He had been able to come to terms with the unfortunate passing of his friend and was now beginning a healthy lifestyle again. Though it was very clear to people who knew him that he’d zone out in the middle of conversations. The pale yellow hues of his eyes would widen out to the whites, and his responses would be a short hum. They took what they could get, they supposed. He was on top of his work, as always, and he became more social. But that fact didn’t stop the crew from worrying. Especially after what Spock had said about his new found telepathy. But Drizid acted like it didn’t matter to him. And no one could tell if he was lying about it or not. Which was beyond nerve racking. Mainly Spock. As Drizid was always very open to how he felt emotionally. But this time, he was unreadable. And after their last encounter, Spock didn’t know what that meant. 

Drizid was completely zoned out in his room, the music that played from the speakers filled his ears as he swayed from left to right. It was easy to come to terms with something rather than to move on. Which was the stage he was at at the moment. The ensign was struck out of his daze when a computer voice interrupted the music saying: “Commander Spock requesting entrance”. Drizid jumped at the robotic voice, and let the words that it said process in his head before he gave permission for the doors to open. It’s only been a month since the conversation that he had with the Commander and the Captain, and he hasn’t talked personally to them since. He’s talked to them for business related things, but whenever they’ve tried to talk to him outside of work he’s made sure that he was busy. He had even gotten Dr. McCoy on his side. Which he was grateful for. 

_“C’mon Bones. We have to talk to him, to apologize at least.” Jim spoke like a child begging for candy, but with a more serious undertone. Spock stood next to him, seeming very interested in his shoes._

_“With all respect,_ Captain, _when Stevens says he wants to speak to y’all personally, I’ll let ya in the office to chat. But he hasn’t, so the answer is still no.” Bones answered, shutting down Jim instantly._

“ _Doctor, if I could explain to the Ensign-”_

_“The ensign has a name, Spock. Next time the two of you barge into my Medical Bay on personal business, at least try to say his name.” Bones snapped, clearly pissed as all hell. Spock shut his mouth. And if Bones didn’t know any better, he’d say that Spock looked genuinely sad._

_“Bones-”_

_“If that is all Captain, Commander, I suggest you leave. Your presence is stressing out Dr. Stevens.”_

Drizid was probably being unprofessional, but he was mad. Mad at the fact that Spock could say things like that so casually. But he can’t avoid the two forever. He knew that. All wounds have to heal. That’s what his dad always said, anyway. Drizid turned the music down until it almost off. Almost. Beastie Boys always calmed him down. And just having it play in the background was soothing his nerves. Straightening out his uniform, he stared directly at Spock as he walked into Drizid’s room. The half breeds both stared at each other, waiting for one to speak first. In the end, it was the First Officer who spoke first.

“Ensign, I would like to apologize for my actions the last time we talked personally. I should’ve known that your emotions would have gotten the better of you.” Spock sucked in his breath when he saw Drizid’s face twist like he tasted bitter coffee. “What I mean is, I am sorry.”

“It’s fine.”

“You’re twitching, Ensign.”

“I always twitch, Commander.”

“You are upset on how I started my apology.” It was more of a statement than a question. Drizid shoved his hands into his pockets and pushed out a breath he didn’t know he was holding.

“Would you like tea?” He asked, plastering a tight smile, trying to conceal his emotions. He didn’t wait for an answer, as he began to make the beverage. While the water boiled, Drizid turned his attention back to Spock. “Permission to speak freely, Commander?”

“Permission Granted.”

“Yeah, I’m mad. I’m pissed off. First, you tell me that I could’ve saved my friend which is all fine, I’m over that. But then you continue to tell me that it was my fault she died?”

“I never said-”

“You implied it.” Drizid cut Spock off. He had permission to speak freely, and he was gonna use it. “Then you come into my quarters and tell me ‘my emotions got the best of me’. Hell yeah they got the best of me. How could they not when-” His scales pointed up and he sucked in a breath, calming himself down. “When I’m told that I could’ve saved her? What would you want my reaction to be? An emotionless nod of the head?!” The tea kettle let out a high pitched whistle. Drizid turned back around and poured the hot water into two mugs, then began to add the leaves, honey, and milk. All the while, Spock stayed silent. Maybe Drizid crossed a line. Took it too far. He was about to apologize as he turned around.

“You do not have to apologize, Drizid.” Spock stated, breaking the silence. “While on this voyage, I have been able to… educate myself on emotions, and have been able to form emotional ties to some of the crew members. I should have realized how close you were to Ms. Luca before stating what you could have done. It was wrong of me to assume that you would handle the situation like a vulcan would.” Spock stated. Drizid stared at him for a long moment before sliding over a mug of tea. Spock held the glass with one hand. “If I may, Drizid, I would like to tell you a memory of mine that might help you.” Spock said.

“... okay.” 

“When the Captain saved the _Enterprise_ from Khan three years ago, I witnessed him dying in front of me. I… understand the feeling of helplessness that you felt. I had difficulty concealing my emotions, and acted out in rage.” Spock spoke like every word he thought long and hard on. Like he memorized it. “And me implying that you were at fault was not intentional, I promise you. I wouldn’t do that to anyone unless it was true. And I’m sorry.” Spock kept eye contact with Drizid, trying to show sincerity. 

“Thanks, I guess. It uh, means a lot that you apologized.” Drizid said after letting each and every word sink in. “Sorry I was avoiding you and the Captain, Sir.”

“It’s alright. Though I suggest you contact the Captain soon to discuss this, he has been beating himself over this for awhile.” Both men lightly laughed as they sipped tea, the air free of any tension.

* * *

A whole three months had passed since Cleo’s passing. And with the help of Pavel, Drizid has been able to accept the terms and help him move on. And although he misses his friend, he knows that she’d beat his ass if he was still moping about it. Drizid had a new type of fire about him. For one, he threw out any colored contacts he owned. He began to work hard to earn his colleagues trust, and he was able to leave on good terms with Nathan. Which was a major accomplishment in Drizid’s eyes. Currently, the young man was stationed at his desk, humming a classical song that he’s had stuck in his head since the early morning. He was finishing up his last report of the evening right before dinner when-

“ **Bridge to Med Bay** **.** ”

“Med bay to Bridge, Ensign Stevens speaking.”

“ **Stevens, please report up to Bridge immediately.** ”

Drizid hummed a response and hung up the comm, looking at his mentor. “Who do you think got injured this time. I bet it was Lt. Roman.”

“No, Lt. Roman is more careful than that. It has to be Lt. Guitard.” both men laughed at their bet as Drizid left the office, taking the lift and heading up to the bridge. On his way up, he wondered why they only had a lift as transportation to get to the Bridge. It seems very stupid, in his opinion. If the ship is attacked beyond repair, then the lift would surely stop working. As the doors spun open, Drizid walked briskly into the bridge with his hypospray in hand. But everyone seemed… unharmed. In fact, no one was bleeding or bruised at all. He looked around, beyond confused. The Captain turned his head, as if sensing his presence and gave a bright smile.

“Stevens! Right on time!”

“I do not understand Captain, what is the problem?” Drizid asked as the Captain stood from his chair, gesturing Spock over as well.

“Your dad was from America and your mom from England, correct?” The Captain asked. Drizid nodded slowly, not seeing how this had anything to do with his job. “What are chips?”

“. . . you called me away from my report… to ask me what chips are?” Drizid asked for clarity, before rolling his eyes, “chips are fried sliced potatoes that humans eat with dinner. Or what I eat with Fish. Fish and Chips.” He answered.

“See Spock? He says chips as in potato- you eat lays chips with fish?” The Captain asked, interrupting himself.

“OH. You were talking about _crisps_!” Drizid said, seeming to understand. But the Captain looked more confused. Then the confusion seemed to melt into distress.

“Say apartment.”

“flat…?” The Captain let out a sad groan, Sulu cackled from his seat. “Did I do something wrong, Commander?” Drizid asked, turning his attention to Spock, who held himself with pride.

“No, Ensign. The Captain simply needed clarification on your vocabulary. While Chekov and myself both told him that you would have more of the british vocabulary, the Captain thought otherwise.” Spock explained, Drizid nodded in understanding, though he was still annoyed.

“If that’s all, can I head back to the Medical Bay? I was getting into a report of mine.” The Commander excused Drizid. As he began to leave, he turned and made sure to lock eyes with the Captain, giving him a sly smirk. “Captain, with all due respect, you’re actin’ like quite the tosser.” With that, Drizid found his way back in the lift, and back in the Medical Bay.

“Well? Who got hurt?” McCoy asked, leaning his elbows on the desk.

“The Captains pride.” Drizid answered, returning to his work.

* * *

It was break, and Drizid was hanging out with one of the nurses. They were walking together to his room to drink tea. Because everyone in the Medical Bay knew that Drizid Stevens made the best tea. Very often, he would make tea for all of the doctors and nurses, which was a lot of tea. But at the end of the day, all of it would be gone. Today was like no other, except the tea had vanished by lunch instead of dinner. Since his and Nurse Lia’s break was an hour, that gave the two of them enough time to remake the tea. Drizid invited Lia because well, two hands are better than one. Lia was around 5’6 and had golden blonde buzzed hair. Her hair complimented her round face and freckles. She had stunning green eyes that had flecks of hazel brown in them. Overall, she was stunning. She and Drizid got along very well once they got to know each other. And here they were, standing in front of Drizid’s door. On the center of the door, was a white envelope taped to the door. Drizid ripped it off curiously and they walked inside.

“Well? What’s it say?” Lia asked curiously.

“It says- oh. Lia, this is a _love_ poem.” Drizid exclaimed shocked. Lia’s eyes lit up.

“All the more reason to read it! C’mon, tell me what it says, I won’t tell anyone, promise!” She smiled at Drizid, who rolled his eyes playfully.

“ _You are the sun._

_The universe did not breathe_

_Fir into your bones just so_

_You could burn yourself out._

_You deserve someone who knows_

_There is stardust in your veins_

_And that you are the sun._

_And the sun does not shine_

_because someone wants it too._

_It shines because that’s what it was born to do.”_ Drizid read, and he felt his heart melt. Whoever wrote this had a fine skill with words. Whoever wrote this was a real poet.

“Wow. Looks like you have a secret admirer.” Lia smiled at him before walking over to the stove to make the tea. 

“Yeah. I guess I do have one. A secret admirer.”

When their break was done, the two were walking back to the Medical Bay. They talked in hushed voices about who it could be. Drizid tried to think of who would feel that way about him, but no one came to mind. When they entered the Medical Bay with new tea, everyone let out a blissful sigh. It made Drizid happy that he was able to share something so close to his heart to his friends, and that they legitimately enjoyed it. Maybe it was one of the Medical Staff? 

“Hey Stevens, what’cha got in your hand?” A doctor asked as he poured himself tea. 

“Drizid’s got a secret admirer!” Lia blurted out, then had the dawning realization that she outed him. “Sorry.” 

“It’s fine. Yeah, someone wrote me a love poem.” Drizid said, tucking the poem into his pocket. The doctor nodded and patted Drizids shoulder before walking to his station. Upon entering his shared office, he saw that Dr. McCoy wasn’t there. He was probably on the bridge. As if on cue, he walked through the sliding doors. Drizid handed him a cup of tea, which McCoy gratefully took. “How was the bridge?” Drizid asked.

“Jim, the blasted idiot, called me up because there was a nest of spiders under the Captain’s chair.”

Drizid snorted, “what’d you do?”

“I threw it at him.”

Drizid choked on his tea and looked at his mentor with comically wide eyes.

“Don’t worry, the spiders were already dead when I threw it. But boy, did Jim scream when all of their small corpses exploded from the nest and landed on him.” They both chuckled. Drizid wondered how many times Dr. McCoy had been called to the Bridge for something like that. Probably to many.

“I have a secret admirer.” Drizid said.

“Really? How’d you find out?” McCoy asked him, giving his attention.

“There was a love poem taped to my door. I have it in my pocket. Do you have an idea on who it is?” He asked.

“Yeah, I got an idea.” McCoy trailed, but didn’t say anything else. Drizid knew he wouldn’t be able to get his mentor to say anything else and began to work again.

* * *

Drizid and two engineer crew members were currently stuck on a Klingon ship. Their mission was a simple one: sneak on board and gather intel on how much power the Klingon ship had and then energize back. It was simple. Or, supposed to be anyway. Once they had gotten all the information that they needed, a bright green flash hit one of the engineer members chests, killing him instantly. The other engineer and Drizid booked it down the hallway, miraculously dodging the beams of green that flew past them. How were they caught? Was it some type of alarm that they had set off? Questions swam into one of Drizid’s ear than out the other. Drizid and the other crew member locked themselves in what the assumed was the medical bay. Drizid swung open his communicator open as the engineer blocked the door with desks and medical beds.

“Scotty, beam up Ray and I now!” Drizid shouted into the small device.

“I can’t, something is blocking the transporter, I can’t beam you two up!”

“Oh. Great. Perfect,” Drizids voice held a mix of fear and sarcasm, “okay Ray, I need you to push the lock button on the doors then hide.”

Ray smashed his fist into the lock button and then dashed under a desk. Drizid ran around the medical bay, looking for something that would defend him and Ray from the Klingons who were maybe ten minutes away from breaking down the door. He kept his communications on as Scotty updated him on how far along the transporters were. Drizid heard glass shatter and immediately turned his attention to the door. Some Klingons hand went through the glass window and was reaching for the lock button. Drizid grabbed a random syringe and stabbed the arm, then ripped the tool along the aliens arm, causing the arm to pull back to the other side of the door as a loud and pained scream escaped the klingons lungs.

“Laddie, are you alright?!” Scotty’s worried voice crackled through the comm.

“Yeah. . . besides being maybe six minutes away from death, I’m doing great.” Drizid answered with fake enthusiasm. From the other side of the com, Drizid heard Scotty talking to three others. Drizid decided to focus more on finding something that would save him and his crew member from a torturous death. He could hear his Captain’s voice through the com but didn’t answer whatever he was saying. It then slapped Drizid like a brick to the head. The alien sprinted to the medicine cabinet, grabbing bottles upon bottles of chemicals and dropping them all onto a table. Drizid mixed the chemicals together in a multitude of empty glass bottles, then looked back up at the breaking door. He estimated that he had three more minutes before those doors busted open.

“-vens answer me! Kid answer your com!” Kirk yelled, grabbing Drizid’s attention.

“Okay, I have a solution that’ll save us!” Drizid said into his com, grabbing one of the bottles filled with the mixed chemicals.

“Thank god. The transporters will be back to working in two minutes, will your plan last that long?” McCoy had asked. Drizid could practically feel the relief in his mentors voice.

“Hopefully, I mean fire lasts a while so-”

“You made _fire_?!” McCoy screamed, relief changing into alarm in an instant.

“NO. I made molitaves from the chemicals in their sick bay.” Drizid corrected, though he doubt it brought much comfort.

“Dr. Stevens, if the entrance to the sick bay and where you’re standing are less than ten feet away, you’ll be caught in the process of the fire-”

“Yeah I know Commander, but thanks for the concern,” Drizid saw that the door was beginning to open, “I’ve sent up the information Ray and I gathered from the weaponry so that you have it in case this goes south.” Drizid tuned out what was being said over the com, It was probably something along the lines of ‘you won’t die’. It’s only been a minute, he has to last out for another one. Which is easier said than done when you’re staring down death. The door broke open. Drizid drew his right arm back and chucked the bottle, hitting one of the klingons shoulders. There was a bright orange glow and he felt a blazing feeling on his right hand. Ignoring his pain and the new found heat in the sick bay, he threw another bottle. The screams of affliction from the enemy tuned out the shouts from his com. He glanced over at Ray, who began to energize back to the ship. Drizid could see a klingon begin to limp towards him. Before it could lay a fire touched hand on the young doctor, Drizid energized back to the ship.

Dear god his hand was blazing in pain. He could see it beginning to blister, luckily it was just a second degree burn. That did not stop his mentor from rushing over and practically dragging him to their safe sick bay to be treated. The earful he got was like a mother scolding her child for not looking both ways before crossing the street. Drizid could’ve sworn that McCoy must have a kid of his own if he’s _this_ lecturing about an injury from a mission. 

“You could’ve melted your skin off if you were a few steps closer to that fire.”

“But I didn’t.”

“Not to mention that your nervous system would be absolutely fucked if you were in that fire for a second longer.”

“But I wasn’t.” Drizid laughed lightly as his mentor listed everything that would’ve gone wrong if he was in the fire longer, but it was interrupted when the sick bay doors opened. Drizid sat up straight and felt his humor go dry. His Commander and Captain stared at him with unreadable eyes.

“Report, Stevens.” Kirk demanded.

“The Klingons have a strong warp core, however it was damaged from our attack. They have twenty torpedoes on board, and have two-hundred gas bombs that can kill anything that breathes it. I believe that their plan is to invade the Enterprise and release the gas bombs on board, killing the crew from the inside,” Kirk and Spock nodded, “so, am I being sent back?”

“Pardon?” Kirk looked mildly confused.

“I screwed up my mission. I had one of the engineers die and the other practically die from shock. Are you sending me back to the academy?” Drizid refrazed his question. 

“It would be most unfortunate to lose you this far into the ships mission. The crew has already grown attached to you and losing you would cause us to lack in afficency.” Spock said. Drizid’s eyes lit up a bit when he heard Spock use the word ‘us’, but didn’t say anything about it.

“What Spock means is that your to stay in your quarters until your hand is fully healed. You are not to have guests except for when Bones checks your injury.” 

Drizid felt the hole in his stomach disappear when he got the answer. The four of them changed the subject and began to pick on McCoy about his mother henning. Drizid laughed and banged his burnt hand against the table. Ow. 

* * *

Drizid was hanging out with his friends at dinner. Lee was on his left, Pavel in front of him, and a few others around them. It was an average day on the _Enterprise_. And as far as Drizid knew, they didn’t come into contact with some intergalactic force that wanted them dead. But his suspicions have begun to get the best of him. Because Pavel was acting strange. For instance, the navigator would look anywhere but into Drizid’s eyes, and his heartbeat would speed up when Drizid would talk to him. He thanked his Cardassian genes, a blessing and a curse. It was odd to see him like this, when only months ago he was fine being around Drizid. Maybe he did something to offend him? Or Pavel is just being weird. Either way, it bothered him to no end. Drizid quickly tuned back into the conversation.

“So Drizzy-”

“Don’t call me that, Lee.”

“Did ya get another letter?” Lee asked, looking at Pavel instead of Drizid. Drizid noticed a look of terror pass over the russian. Pavel had to know something about the admirer.

“Yeah. Pav, do you know something?” 

“Vhat? Vhy vould i know zomezhing about your admirer?” Pavel must have voice cracked at least three times in that sentence. His heartbeat increased and he was quick to change the topic. 

After dinner, Drizid dismissed himself from his friends, saying that he had to get to bed for an early day tomorrow. Once he turned a corner, Pavel swiftly grabbed Lee by the arm and dragged him in the opposite direction. It would look odd to anyone around them, but at the moment, Pavel was more focused on making sure Lee was just joking when he gave that look at him earlier? Did Lee know? If he knew, than there was no doubt that he’d tell Drizid. They’ve been best friends for five years, they tell each other everything. It’s what the two pride themselves on. And if Lee knew, then Pavel was absolutely _fucked_.

“Jeez, Pav, slow down!” Lee grabbed Pavel’s attention, pulling his arm away. They were in a vacant hallway, far from the dining hall. 

“How long haff you known?” Pavel asked. Lee smirked a tiny bit.

“Honestly, it was just a hunch. But now, I know.” 

“Lee, pleaze don’t tell him. I vant it to be-”

“Romantic?” Lee finished, chuckling as he rubbed his elbow, “Pav, Drizid’s as romantic as a piece of cardboard. He might look like a real lovey-dovey guy, but I doubt that he even knows the meaning of romantic.”

“Do you zhink zhat you could help me wizh zomezhing?” Pavel asked, seeming more shy about this than he was before. Lee nodded. “It’z Walentines Day tomorrow, and I vanted to tell Drizid zhat I vas zhe one writitng zhose poems. Can you help me prepare a type of monologue?”

“Sure, kid. Here, pretend I’m Drizid. Now, say what you’d say to him to me.”

“... vhat.”

“Just do it, it’ll help I promise.” Lee smiled encouragingly, squaring up as Pavel prepared. 

“Okay.. Uh, hello, Drizid. A moon iz out tonight, You remind me of zhat moon, becauze it iz big and bright! A-and by big, I don’t mean chubby. Obwiously you’re not fat. But your personality is… biggish? Iz vhat I meant by zhat. Zorry about zhat fat zhing, I zhought I’d just clarify. It’s actually genetic, coming from zhe gene pool, vhitch reminds me of you- oh vhere am I going wizh zhis?” He stopped himself from saying anything else. Lee closed his eyes and was rubbing his temple.

“Yeah… you’re screwed. Okay, try again.”

“I don’t zhink zhis vorks.”

“Do you want help or not?” 

“Okay! Drizid, I picked zhis flower from Sulu’s plant… garden. And I don’t really like it, but it made me zhink of you! Becauze it’z pretty… iz vhat I’m Trying to zay. And you are also pretty, but I like you anyvay. So, pleaze accept zhis flower. Vith its petals, and a stem. Vitch represent my feelings. And tells you how- oh man I’m in trouble.” He sighed, running a hand through his curly amber hair.

“Hey, it’s better than the first try!” Lee said, trying to be positive. His comm interrupted the two, saying he had to get down to the engines. “Sorry, I have to go. But good luck.” As he walked away, he muttered, “you’ll need it.”

Drizid had woken up to roses taped on his door. He was beyond confused. For the past few months Drizid’s been receiving presents and love poems from a secret admirer. It was eating the poor kid alive by not knowing who it was. He had brought it up to both his mentor and the captain, but both of them looked at him and just laughed, saying that it was bluntly obvious. Even the commander told him to “open his eyes”. It pissed Drizid off. Drizid had asked Roy and Lee, but both of them shrugged and told him that whoever she was that she had to have high standards to go for him. Just like YorkTown, Drizid was extremely attractive on the ship. There was a reason his aunt had him model for her all the time when he was home. Drizid walked into the sick bay and sat next to a patient, getting to work immediately. He made up small talk to the patient before sending them on their way to their station. 

“Hey kid, brought coffee.”

“You’re a lifesaver, Doctor McCoy.” Drizid laughed and took the drink from his mentor, who simply hummed in response.

“You don’t have to call me that, ya know. McCoy or Bones is fine. We’ve known each other long enough to drop pleasantries, _Doctor Stevens._ ” Bones jested before getting to work.

“Oh, cool. Thanks Do- Bones,” Drizid corrected himself, then tried to work. Tried is the key word, as he quickly turned his head to Bones and began talking, “hey, do you think that my secret admirer will reveal themselves today?” 

“Depends on how brave he’s feel-” Bones cut himself off. 

“So they’re a _he_?” Drizid wiggled his eyebrows jokingly.

“Get to work, kid.”

Lunch break came and Drizid quickly found his group of friends. Sitting down, they all began to chat about valentines day and how they were going to spend the evening. Apparently, the Captain ordered a shore leave after 17:00. Drizid prayed that his admirer told him who he is soon, it was making him nervous. Lee poked at Drizid’s shoulder, breaking the boys line of thought.

“Drizzi, has your admirer told you who she is yet?” He asked.

“He.”

“Pardon?”

“The admirer is a he,” Drizid clarified, “and no, he hasn’t. Though I wish he would, it’s beginning to give me anxiety not knowing.”

Pavel looked down at his food before talking, “I’m sure he didn’t mean to, whoever he is.”

“Yeah, yeah. Just I hope he comes to me soon, seeing as it’s Valentine 's Day and we have a shore leave. It’d be nice to maybe go to dinner with him.” Drizid began to daydream about how that dinner might end up.

“Awe, lil Drizzi’s all love sick!” Lee joked.

Drizid showed his sharp canines and his pupils shrunk slightly, “Don’t call me Drizzi.”

After the lunch break, Drizid notice something shift in Pavel. He noticed that his russian friend was stammering a lot and muttering in russian. As much as Drizid found it cute, it also worried him. To much stress on a young mind can lead to unhealthy habits and Drizid wasn’t having anyone staying in their quarters on shore leave. He had to drag Pavel to the sick bay. To anyone who passed them, it looked as it sounded. Drizid was pulling Pavel by the sleeve of his uniform shirt. As they entered the bay, McCoy laughed to himself when he saw the small russian and Drizid walk in and place Pavel on a bed. Well, more like throw the poor kid onto one. 

“Really, Drizid, I’m okay!” Pavel tried to reassure as Drizid scanned his body.

“Heart rate up by 5%, body temperature one hundred and 4, and eyes dilated. Pavel, You need to calm down.” Drizid’s smooth voice soothed Pavel quickly. Drizid could tell just by looking at the boy that he was worried or scared. He refused to let Pavel suffer alone, “Pavel, what’s wrong?”

“Wrong? Nothing- nothing’s wrong I’m just, uh, tired.”

“. . . you’re tired.” Drizid repeated unimpressed.

“Yes. Very, very tired.”

“Right. Are we gonna continue bullshitting this or are you gonna tell me what’s bothering you?”

Drizid sighed and sat down in the chair next to the bed. He put his hand close to Pavels so that their pinky fingers were touching. He could feel the sleep he had creeping up to him. As a doctor, it’s expected of him to lose any sleep schedule he had, but he knew that pulling four all nighters in a row would cause him to slip on the job. And that wouldn’t be good at all. Drizid’s hand fell over Pavel’s and his head landed on his shoulders. He could feel the boy stiffen and heard McCoy force down a laugh, but damn it he was tired and needed an hour at least. 

“Is this alright, Chekov?”Drizid slurred his words together, feeling sleep beginning to claw into his mind.

“Yes, yeah that’s fine.” Drizid didn’t notice that Pavel’s voice went up several octaves and cracked.

Drizid hummed in response and closed his eyes, slipping into a long awaited nap. When he woke up, Drizid was laying fully down on the medical bed. Alone. Drizid felt a pang of sadness from realizing that Pavel wasn’t there. He sat up and read a small note in his mentors handwriting:

_‘Hey kid, didn’t want to wake you. Pavel left when he saw you were passed out and went back on duty. If you wake up and no one is in the Medical Bay, it’s cause it’s past 17:00. Have fun on shore leave. -McCoy’_

Drizid put the note down and shifted his legs over the bed, stumbling out of the bay and into the ships hallway. If he didn’t know any better, he’d say that the ship was invaded and everyone was dead. That’s how silent it was. Drizid turned his head to a clock that read 17:34. He turned and began to make his way to the engine room to beam himself down, when he heard soft pacing. Curious, the boy followed the pitter patter of footsteps to the bridge. He hid behind the doors, eavesdropping on whoever was inside the room. 

“-no, not that. How about, ‘Hi Drizid, I’m your secret admirer, wanna go out with me?’ No. That’s to forward.” Said the person on the bridge. Drizid knew that accent. He’s known it for six years. He walked into the bridge.

“How ‘bout you don’t say anything, we grab a bite, and see how it goes?” Drizid asked as he sauntered over to Pavel, who looked shaken at the sudden interruption. Then a look of confusion, and finally realization.

“Do you mean-”

“Yeah. I do,” Drizid laughed lightly and walked closer to the shorter boy, “I should’ve noticed when you first met me.”

“Was it that obvious?”

“You called me ‘pretty horned boy’, if my memory is correct.”

“Ah. Right.”

Drizid laughed and grabbed Pavel’s hand before walking alongside him to the engineering room. They created cute small talk as they went to a small restaurant and walked around the colony they were on. It felt nice to be able to have tonight off. Drizid reminded himself to thank the captain later. Then he remembered that the captain has two reasons for this shore leave, and they both wear blue. He grimaced at the image before focusing back on his date.


	8. Personal Log, aka Welcome to the Mind of Drizid Stevens

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> for the few months in between the last chapter, they’re filled in by Drizid’s personal logs. This is a chapter told completely in the mind of Drizid.

Personal Log, Stardate 2398.6: 

I’m still getting used to putting down the Stardate instead of the normal date. You’d think that Starfleet would get the cadets used to small things like that. Then again, medical students aren’t in the helm, so I guess I wouldn’t need to know. Maybe I’ll just stick to the month, day, year date. It’ll be easier. It would be November 10th on Earth. The day was normal. Got up, went to work. Oh, something that was interesting was that Dr. McCoy wasn’t here today, like at all. Like he didn’t show up. So I got to be Chief Medical for a day. Which was pretty cool. Except for the fact that the Captain kept coming down here to interrupt me when I’m working. Like. It was constant. It must have been at least fifteen times. He was probably looking for Dr. McCoy. He never really said. During lunch, Lia and Nathan got together. As in… well I’m sure that you get the picture. I really don’t understand her sometimes. But then again, who am I to judge? Pavel’s been avoiding me again. Well, not really avoiding me, he still talks to me and hangs out. When we’re with friends. Other than that, it’s like I’ve got a disease. Which is ironic. He was a real big help with getting me to get over Cleo, and I’ve been trying to say thanks. Lt. Sulu helped me by giving me a bunch of blue and purple flowers to give to him, which was really nice of him. The flowers glowed neons blues and purples, and Pavel loved them. But still, just flowers doesn’t pay up for all of the breakdowns he helped me through. Lt. Uhura said that Pavel liked Dark Chocolate, so I got him five bars of it when we had shore leave. But still, that’s not enough. The Captain said that their was gonna be a meteor shower on one of the planets we were visiting, so like any friend would do, I took him with me to see it. Maybe I was hanging around him too much? Well now I feel kinda bad. When I tried to explain this to Scotty, because he’s like, a great friend to vent to, he said “Aye, ya have ta make yer emotions known, laddie.” Make my emotions known? The hell is that implying? Ugh, I have to go. Personal Log… complete? Is that what they say? It’s what I say.

Personal Log, Stardate: Find the CMO

I cannot be the only one worried. Dr. McCoy hasn’t been in since last week. Both the Captain and the Commander has reassured everyone that he’s okay, but I don’t buy it. His quarters are only down the hall from mine, so I could just visit him. But if he’s avoiding work, then the last person he’s probably like to see would be his Ensign. And if he really is okay, then I shouldn’t be this worried. But it’s not like him. For the ten months that I’ve known him, he’s not one to push off work. And technically speaking, it’s none of my business. But I’m still allowed to worry. The Captain told me that it had something to do with his personal life, and that if he wanted me to know, he’d tell me. Maybe a family member died? From what he’s told me before, Dr. McCoy doesn’t seem to like to talk about his family. Then again, he did only bring them up once. And when he did, he said “family of sorts.” What does that imply? Does it even imply anything? This is giving me a headache. On a lighter note, I’ve completely given up learning how to Stardate correctly. I asked the Captain, but the way he explained it was like having a math teacher substitute for the chinese teacher. Just… now I know that whenever I have a question about what the helm does, I’ll go to the Commander. Pavel isn’t really avoiding me anymore, so that’s also good news! I still don’t get what Scotty said though. My emotions are well known. I was being friendly. That’s it. What’s wrong with getting one of your closest friends gifts? Like flowers and chocolates? Or taking him to see a meteor shower? Which was beautiful, by the by. It was like watching stars fall. And the way that they reflected on Pavel’s eyes was… Lia and Nathan are officially a thing now. The medical staff have collectively put in bets on how long they’ll last. I love the two to death, but they won’t last long. They’re just too different. Lia is loud and doesn’t really think before she says anything. And Nathan always lives in his head. A quiet guy. Always plans out what he says in his head before actually saying it type of guy. Poor bastard. The Captain has taken it upon himself to “educate me on the American Language” which I find hilarious because “american” isn’t a language. Even the Commander found it funny. I think. I mean he scoffed at it. So that’s something. It’s really hard to tell with him. Personal log complete.

Personal Log, Stardate: A false alarm

So. the reason that Dr. McCoy was absent was because he was on call with his daughter. I never knew that he had a kid. Now I feel kinda stupid. When he came in today, I didn’t do much to hide the fact that I was worried. Like, when your mentor is missing for a whole week and doesn’t tell you shit, wouldn’t you worry? Like that isn’t just me right? He sorta just laughed and explained to me that he was on a call with his daughter who’s back in Georgia. Which it made sense now. Only a parent could lecture as well as he does, I should’ve caught on sooner. He didn’t tell me anymore than that, which is understandable. I guess. He seems a lot happier than usual, so that’s good. Jaylah and I pranked the Captain today. She screwed around with the bridge controls were it became voice recognition, and it locked the Captain out. We also had it lock him out of his quarters, the science lab, and the medical bay. He still doesn’t know it was us. Even if he found out, I’m sure that he won’t care much. He’s super chill about things like this I’m told. What else happened today… Oh! I’m going on my first landing party tomorrow! Yeah, we’re going to a planet that was being watched by a Starship, but the ship fell onto the planet and said planets community has imitated some of the information from that ship. I’m excited. It’s Jaylah, Chekov, and I. I’ll log when it’s done. Personal log complete.

Personal Log, Stardate: First Landing Party

It was an adventure, that’s for sure. When the Starship crashed, the only thing left behind was an old disc dating back to 2014. Which was so long ago. The disc was “Into the Woods”. The whole civilization mimicked the movie. It looked like the middle ages, everyone dressed like it too. But what was weird was the main cast in the movie wasn’t on the planet. Until we showed up. God, it was an experience I’ll never forget. When we landed, the townspeople called us “saviors” and practically ripped us away from one another. I’ll be honest, I was terrified. At one point, I’m laughing with my friends, the next I’m in a castle. And then, to make things even weirder, they called me Charming. Flirtation is  _ not  _ a strong suit of mine, thank you very much. They made me change my clothes so that I was in the same outfit that the prince was in. It was actually very comfortable. And it fit me perfectly. When I checked my comm, I really only heard static. Which just doubled my nervousness. The only thing I heard from the other end was the Captain saying “Beam them up!” He sounded panicked. Like we were gonna die. Which is just a fun fact of the day. We almost died. I will never forget the amount of relief I had when I saw that Pavel and Jaylah were okay. Jaylah isn’t one for hugs, but Pavel is. And he’s a good hugger. It’s cute. Pretty sure he squeezed my ribs into my lungs though. It didn’t take long for our comms to begin working again, thanks to Jaylahs hard work. Since we couldn’t find a way to make them beam us up, she made it possible for us to beam ourselves up. We beamed up immediately after. It’s the strangest thing. When we beamed up, no one was in the transporter room. It was empty. Like, no one was there. We went to our reported stations, so I went to the Medical Bay. Everyone just sorta stared at me like I’ve been gone a whole week. When I went into the office, Dr. McCoy had his head in his hands, I think he was overwhelmed? When I got his attention, it was like any negative emotion was gone from him and he just hugged me. It was nice. Like how a father would hug his son. He is a father, so it makes sense that he’d give good hugs. Then came the lecture. Honestly it was sweet to know that he cared about me. Which was pretty cool. Turns out that time goes on differently on that planet then it does on the ship. One hour there is a day here. So we thought we were gone for seven hours, but we were gone for a whole week. Weird thought. It was fun, though. Definitely a story I’ll tell my future kids. Personal log complete. 

Personal log, Stardate: December 15th.

Wow, I haven’t updated this in awhile. It’s my birthday. I wasn’t really excited about it. Since I can’t exactly go to my parents graves, I was a bit on edge. To be honest, I don’t know why they have graves. They’re not dead. Just missing. But I guess it’s the memory that counts. The day was long and boring. Nothing out of the ordinary. Thankfully no one jumped on me or sang “Happy Birthday”. I mean, my friends kinda know how this day is for me, so it was nice to not have some big thing. Or any type of thing. It was just a normal day. Yeah… oh who am I bullshitting here? It’s not like anyone else will find these except for me. Today sucked. I’m glad that no one did a birthday thing, that’s not the part that sucked. What sucked was that everyone was walking around eggshells with me. They used hushed voices and treated me like a piece of china that could break if you breathed on it wrong. Which wasn’t the worst thing in the world, what was worse was the Captain and Chekov kept checking up on me. Every. Single. Break. I get that they might be concerned that today might interfere with work, but I’m more professional than that. I’m getting to worked up about this. They were just concerned about me, and here I am bitching about it like they committed some hideous act against me. They really just wanted to make sure I was alright and I’m… hold on a minute… Computer, open the doors… oh, hey… no, it’s my fault Captain… oh, ya didn’t have to… wait, really?... wow… th-that’s amazing! Sir… heh, yeah… thank you, Captain… Computer, close doors. Well, looks like we’re docking on Earth soon. The  _ Enterprise  _ needs fuel and overall recharge before we go into deep unterritoried space. Personal log complete.

Personal log, Stardate: I have a date.

I have a boyfriend now. I’m not single anymore. That’s so… cool? Cool and weird. But also, wow. I should’ve caught on sooner. Throughout the months, Pav and I have gotten closer. And I realized what Scotty meant all those months ago. It scared me. I’ve never fallen in love with someone before, this is all new to me. When I realized that I was feeling love, I felt a small pit in my stomach. I did what any normal person would do. I went to Scotty. The almighty advice friend. When I told him my problems and how nervous I was, he just nodded and listened. A great friend, 10/10. But when I said “how do I know that Pav like me like that?” he let out the most inhuman wheeze I’ve ever heard. It was like a whale and a klingon had a child and that was the first word that it spoke. It was really funny. Scotty said “Chekov follows ya ‘round like a lost dog, Stevens, he’s neva done that to anyone on this ship but you.” God my scottish accent is awful. But turns out he was right. Because when I walked onto the bridge, he was practicing a confession. Which was extremely sweet. And then we went on a date. It was nice. We acted the same as we did before, just… closer. Physically and mentally, I suppose. It’s a weird feeling, love. But I think I can get used to it. I hope I can. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this one is late, I got caught up in homework last night and couldn't post it. This one is shorter than the others, imagine it like a filler episode. I'll be on top of the schedule though, I promise.


	9. Docking

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Drizid sees Earth for the very first time and experiences a half breed hate crime. He finds out something that he has to be apart of, but is denied. In a rage, he burns down bridges and accidentally releases a deadly man.

When the  _ Enterprise _ docked, it was late may. They had a few stops, and space travel takes longer than Starfleet said it would. But when they entered the Earth’s atmosphere, Drizid felt unnerved. He hasn’t seen his dad’s family since he was a little kid. As in, when he was a toddler. And now he was nineteen. The past year has flown by for him, due to all of the things he’s accomplished and seen. And now he was going to see Earth. They were docking in San Francisco. Drizid could barely focus on his work. He had three patients for physicals, then he was free to leave the ship. Most of the crew has already left, the only ones left were Dr. McCoy, the bridge crew, and Scotty. Drizid finished his last patient and waved to them goodbye. They were going to stay on Earth until August, a long shore leave. Which made sense, seeing as they’re going to uncharted space for the next three years. Three years back out there. Sounded like a dream and a nightmare. Being with his friends was great, but being out there where anything could get you was… not as fun in the half breeds opinion. But one can’t pick and choose these types of things. Cleaning up his desk, Drizid turned off his computer and contently sighed.

“You seem thrilled, Stevens.”

“Very, Dr. McCoy. It’s my first time on Earth, to say I’m excited would be an understatement.” Drizid answered his mentor, smiling brightly.

“That’s great to here. Your family is in Boston, right? That’s a long flight.”

“Ah, yeah.” Drizid smiled, though his nerves were more apparent than before. “Can’t wait to stay with family who I’ve never seen in person before except through screens.” Drizid mumbled, making himself busy with putting away hypos and instruments.

“Wait, you haven’t seen your family in person before?” McCoy asked for clarity.

“I’ve never been to Earth before, so no. Never in the flesh before.” Drizid shrugged like it meant nothing.

“That… that doesn’t seem safe, Stevens.” McCoy said, “you’ve never met them before. You’re going to Boston for the first time.” He trailed off. Drizid looked confused before continued. “Boston isn’t exactly known for accepting half breeds, kid. I’m just worried that you might find yourself in not the best situations.”

“Oh… well, I don’t exactly have anywhere else to stay. Pavel offered, but I said that he should spend time with his family. I’m sure I can book a hotel room.” Drizid knew that Earth was behind on accepting certain species, as humans are some of the most judgemental species out there. And as much as he loved his family, he didn’t want to be the victim of a hate crime. Besides, he has been given an excuse to not see his family, which means no awkward conversations.

“Are you sure to stay here alone? San Fransisco can be intimidating.”

“I don’t really have another choice. I’ll see you in a few months, Dr. McCoy!” Drizid waved goodbye before heading out of the Medical Bay.

His quarters were cleaned up and he had a small suitcase packed with his clothes and other necessities. Nodding his head in success, Drizid walked out of his quarters and towards the dock. He was on his phone for hotel rooms and found a nice one he could hang out in. It was a sweet and had a king sized bed. The bedroom connected to the living room. In a small room to the left of the bedroom was the kitchen. A hallway connected to the living room was the bathroom. It reminded Drizid of his old dorm room from when he was a cadet. He was a cadet a full year ago. He has to remind himself that it’s been a year. It really doesn’t feel like it. It feels like it’s been only months. In space, you really just lose touch on time. Time is just an illusion after all, who is Drizid to question how she works? As he got off the  _ Enterprise _ , he felt the sun. he felt the sun. The sweet warmth that shot down in beautiful beams that hit his scales and horns. The brightness from the sun made his pupils become catlike, but he didn’t mind because he could feel it. It’s a lot better than just reading about it. 

“How’s it feel? The sun, I mean.” The Captain asked from behind Drizid, making him jump a bit.

“Good,” He laughed while he said the word, “Really, really good.” 

“I’m glad. Bones told me that you’re staying in San Francisco for the summer?”

“Oh, yeah. Just had to change my plans for safety reasons.” Drizid said, Jim nodded his head in understanding.

“Well, I hope it’s safer here than Boston for you. Have a nice shore leave, Stevens.”

“You too, Captain.” 

Drizid walked off of the ship and out of the Starfleet base. It was truly weird to feel the sun, but he assumed that he’d get used to it. When he opened the Starfleet doors, there was a breeze. It was quick and soft, but he felt it. The smell of pollen and damp cement filled his nostrils. It was nice. To know that this is what it really smells like, not some carbon copy. He feels for the people in Yorktown who don’t know what it actually smells and feels like. Waving bye at a few friends he passed, Drizid walked to the way of the hotel he was staying at. It wasn’t too far from the base, only a couple of miles. The walk was nice and well needed. He got to look around. It looked a lot like Yorktown, but the atmosphere was real and not glass. The clouds looked soft and airy. He knew that they were just water, but he wondered if they felt like cotton. A childish thought, but that didn’t stop him from thinking about it. Drizid watched as the white fluffy clouds ombre to greys and blacks, drifting into each other making many huge dark omens, covering the blue sky. Drizid walked faster to his hotel.

“Excuse me, sir, I’m a bit lost, could you help me?” Drizid asked a man much taller than him. He found himself lost.

“Of course- woah. You’re not human, are you?” He asked curiously.

“Not fully, no.” Drizid answered truthfully. It seemed like the wrong answer, as the man’s face twisted from a kind smile to a sociopathically numb face. “... sir?”

“Has Starfleet really stooped so low to employ  _ halfbreeds _ ? First one as a first command, and now you? What even are you?” He asked, disgusted.

“I’m half human, half-” Drizid started to explain, but cut himself short when he felt a death grip on his throat. Shit.

“I wasn’t really wantin’ to know, kiddo.” He hissed, tightening his grip. Drizid wanted to go into a defense, but if he was caught hurting someone, a halfbreed medical officer hurting a civilian, no matter the circumstance, he would be fucked. Absolutely fucked. “It’s funny how your crew leaves you behind to face the world alone, isn’t it?”

“Hey Stevens, I think the hotels are that way- Excuse me, what do you think your doing to my Ensign?” Drizid didn’t know if he was relieved or even more scared when he heard McCoy’s voice from behind him. He decided it was fear, because where one husband goes, the other two are close behind. His body went rigid and he gulped. The man who held his throat stared over his shoulder, to where Drizid assumed that Dr. McCoy was. 

“Bones, what’s going… on.” Drizid recognized the Captain’s voice instantly. “Kid, who’s your new friend?” He asked, though his voice held more menace than curiosity. 

“Wouldn’t call us friends.” Drizid said as he struggled to get in healthy breaths of air. He wondered when Spock was going to show up. But his wandering mind wasn’t wondering for long. He saw Spock come up from behind the man and silently stepped closer. Drizid felt bad for the guy. He wondered if it was normal to feel bad for someone who tried to choke you. Before he could do anything, Spock had pinched the side of the man’s neck, putting him into a sleep.

“May I ask how you got into this situation, Dr. Stevens?” Spock asked after laying the man down on the ground. Dr. McCoy ran over and started to check Drizid’s neck.

“Uh, I asked for directions because I was lost, and then when he saw I was a halfbreed he uh, tried to choke me.” Drizid said, still in a daze from the situation.

“Well, there isn’t any damage other than a bruise, thank god.” Dr. McCoy said relieved. “Stevens, I don’t think it’s safe for you to be on your own here.”

“That was just one person, I don’t think that every single person is like that.”

“ _ We’re _ not. But humans can be very judgemental to things that they don’t understand. It took more than a century for humans to accept their species looking different from one another. Took another century for them to accept different sexualities and the use of different pronouns. They have fought amongst themselves for eons. It would not surprise me that ⅔ of the people that you would meet would try to diminish you, or me.” Spock said, sending a sense of understanding to Drizid. Sometimes he forgets that Spock is half human too. 

“I third that, Stevens. As a Captain, it would be wrong of me to leave a crew member at potential risk. As a friend, I refuse the fact that you could get hurt by yourself.” The three men seemed to share a look of agreement, and Jim continued. “Which is why you’ll stay with us until this is over.”

“I’m sorry, Sir. It think I heard you wrong. Did you say ‘stay with us’? As in I’ll be staying with you three until Shore Leave is over?”

“Prieselly.” Spock nodded.

“That- it’s really okay. I don’t want to intrude on you three.” Drizid jumped to excuses.

“Drizid, if we offered you to stay with us, then your not intruding.” McCoy smiled at Drizid.

“But… there’s no way I’ll change your minds, is there?” He asked the three. Who nodded. Drizid sighed and shrugged his shoulders. “Okay. Where are we going?”

“Well, we’re going to get food before we head onto our flight.” Kirk said, changing the subject to a lighter note. “Oh, you should call your boyfriend. I’m sure this is something he should know about.”

“Captain, I don’t want to drag Pavel away from his family.”

“You are his family, Stevens.” Kirk said as he walked onwards. Drizid nodded and pulled out his phone. This would be a fun conversation. 

_ “Drizid! Vhat a vondeful surprise!” _

“Hey, Pav. Uh, I thought you should know this before it slips my mind,” Drizid breathed in deep, “I think I was just a victim of a halfbreed hate crime.” The silence on the other line was deafening. 

_ “Are you okay?”  _ Pavel asked, well it wasn’t exactly asking. More like demanding for his own reasurrence.

“I’m fine, don’t worry. I just thought that it was smart to tell you-”

_ “I’m buying a ticket back to America now.” _

“No! Pav, really I’m fine now. I promise I am. I’ll call you every night, just stay with your family for now. I know how much you’ve missed them.”

“ _ Are you sure, дорогой? _ ” Pavel asked, the worry evident in his tone. Drizid smiled softly at his boyfriend’s concern.

“I promise. Have I ever lied to you before?” Drizid asked jokingly.

“ _ Vhen you said zhat you haven't had chicken soup before. _ ”

“In my defense, I didn’t expect you to believe that. So, technically that’s your fault.” Drizid and pavel laughed to each other.

_ “So, how was it? Getting on zhe Earth, other than getting a surprise attack.” _ Pavel asked, trying to add humor to the well justified scary experience.

“God, it was beautiful. I never knew that wet cement had a smell. Or that pollen and grass smelled too. I mean, I always knew knew, but to actually smell it for the first time was- wow. OH and I got to actually watch real clouds change colors. They went from white to this light peachy pink, then orange, then blue, then- you should’ve seen it, Pav.” Drizid explained everything he saw in the most detail he could. Pavel laughed lightly from the other end of the phone.

_ “I am glad you enjoyed it. Next time ve land, I’ll take you to Russia. It snows here like crazy.” _

“It’s a shame that we didn’t come in winter. Guess I’ll have to wait for that next time, huh?” Drizid said, though there wasn’t any real sadness in his tone.

_ “well, have fun staying with your family. I’ll call you tomorrow.” _

“Yeah, you too.” 

Pavel hissed at himself,  _ “sorry, a reflex.” _

“It’s okay.” Drizid said and hung up. He put his phone in his pocket and turned around to face his three higher ups, who stared at him like he was a small child who just saw their new dog. “Is everything alright?”

“Fine. Come on then, boys. We have dinner to catch.” Kirk said, clasping Drizid on the shoulder and pulling him along.

“I do not believe that dinner will be thrown at us, Jim.”

“A figure of speech, Spock.”

***

A month and a half. Drizid had been living with his higher ups for a month and a half. He genuinely wondered if staying in San Francisco was a smarter idea. Not that their bad roommates. They’re great. Just… loud. Not in that way, of course. Thank god. It just seems like when one of them is in another room, the other two make it a personal goal to be as loud as possible and scream at the top of their lungs. Drizid thinks he’s lost 30% of his hearing in the past weeks. But it has been enjoyable. He doesn’t have to call them ‘sir’ or ‘doctor’ on break. He learned that the hard way. He also learned that telling them he has a faster metabolism than a human would be a smart choice. As when they found out, they quite literally made so much food that it took two weeks to finish. Most of it went bad and Drizid had felt guilty that they didn’t let him explain what he needed to eat. He sticks to a cardassian food diet, which consists of fruit and salad. He ate meat of course, but not as often. When he did, he ate what humans considered medium rare-down right raw. But to him, that was healthy. And he had snacks with him anyway. The third and final thing that Drizid had learned, and the most important: for the love of god, do not tell your Captain that you don’t like potatoes. Apparently, eating potatoes is a normal thing for the three men. Drizid sort of understands, seeing as Jim was born in Iowa. However, letting it known that you don’t like any type of potato is a big no. Because then you get a hell of a lecture from your Captain on how potatoes are one of the most commonly eaten vegetables by humans. Followed by Spock saying that the potato is a starch. Overall, a nice time. But their leave was cut short when the Admiral called in, saying an emergency is calling the crew back. 

And now Drizid is back, staring up at the  _ Enterprise  _ with his suitcase behind him, the hot sun reflecting on his golden scales, making them shine. He had on a white long sleeve shirt and semi ripped blue jeans with light brown boots. Even though he wasn’t gone for very long, the whole ship to him seemed forgein. Ironic how he spent a year on their, and now it seems like a whole new experience. Drizid dragged his eyes away from the beauty of the ship to his Captain, walking with the Admiral passed him. He saw how urgent they were. Guess it was something important. It had to be. Drizid wondered.

And wondered.

_ ‘Following just a few steps behind won’t hurt, right?’ _ It didn’t seem like a bad idea. Besides, knowing what you’re getting into is a great thing to know. Waiting for a few more moments, Drizid turned to catch a glimpse of the Captain and the Admiral entering the base and was quick to follow. He put his suitcase on his shoulder, thank god it was a bag. It was a bit heavy, but nothing to bad. Drizid chose to focus on the task at hand instead of the shoulder handle digging into his skin. The Starfleet base had long hallways and quick turns, It was hard for Drizid to keep them in his sights. Walking faster, he made sure that he was hidden enough behind other workers that he wouldn’t be seen. He saw the Admiral do a quick sweep of the hall with her eyes, making sure no one had followed. She missed Drizid who hid behind a load of workers. Thank god. Once he was sure that they went inside a door, he pressed his ear against it. Is this breaking Court Martial? The voices on the other end were muffled, but still normal enough to hear.

“Your crew… uncharted space… distress…  _ Y.T Starset _ … two survivors…” The Admiral’s voice shook Drizid to his core. His parents were on that ship. That was the ship that supposedly exploded. 

“Admiral… our best… Esign… parents… he can’t…” Drizid heard bits and pieces of the things Kirk was saying, but couldn’t register them.

“It he is professional… go… keep him… check…” The Admiral said with authority. Drizid pushed himself away from the door when he heard footsteps approaching from the other side. How was that possible? The  _ YT Starset  _ exploded years ago. How could they get a distress call from her? He stared at the doors blankly. Their were survivors on that ship. Two survivors. Drizid made a quick escape and bolted away from the doors and hid around the corner. He was going to save his parents. Or at least two people from the ship they were on. Which for him, was enough. 

“Admiral River, I don’t think it’s smart to have Ensign Stevens with us on this mission.” Kirks words stopped Drizid’s blind excitement.

“Why is that, Captain? You don’t strike me as the type to stop a family reunion.” The Admiral responded.

“He hasn’t seen them in years. And if they aren’t the survivors, I don’t want him to have the feeling of losing them again.”

“Are you talking for his benefit, Kirk, or for yours?”

“I don’t want to see him hurt again, Admiral. As Captain, it’s my duty to watch over my crew. I’ve seen that kid pull through things that I still have nightmares over.” Kirk grimaced at the visual of the bubbling liquid that was Ms. Luca when he saw her. 

“Ms. Luca.” The Admiral concluded to themselves, then turned back to Kirk. “You will tell him that he won’t be on this mission and will be housed at Starfleet until you return.” With that, they turned into a hall and left Kirk by himself.

Drizid stood frozen, eyes boiling with tears. He clenched his fists until his nails dug into his skin, breaking the tan flesh and causing red to drip onto the concrete floor. He rushed out of where he was hiding and down the hall. Drizid didn’t know how to feel. His parents might be alive on that ship and he’s not aloud to see them first? What type of backwards logic was that? Drizid could feel his suitcase strap dig deeper into his shoulder, creating an odd burning sensation. He ran into an empty hallway and threw his suitcase at the wall in rage. Drizid ran his hands through his hair and bit his lip, his canines jabbed into his bottom lip, making two small holes from the inhuman sharp point they had. Letting out strangled huffs of air, Drizid slowly released his brown locks and set his hands down at his sides. Looking at his palms, he wasn’t surprised that the impact of his nails were all healed. He couldn’t feel the small throbbing that came from his bottom lip either. Damn his fast healing. Damn Kirk. Drizid cussed at himself for thinking that. He’s his Captain. He’s looking out for him. Drizid should be grateful.

But he’s not. 

“What’re ya doin’ back here, Laddie?... Stevens?” Drizid was quick to snap out of his trance as he turned his head to see the infamous scotsman. “The Captain’s lookin for ya.”

“I’m sure he is.”

“Aye, he’s very antsy about it.”

“Oh, I’m sure.” Scotty took notice of the heavy sarcasm in Drizid’s voice this time. He shifted a bit before looking behind the halfbreed to see his bag leaning on the wall.

“Are ya alright?”

“Fine.” Drizid hissed out, shoving his left hand in his pocket and turning to pick up his bag.

“Ya don’ sound ‘fine’, Stevens-”

“I’m  _ fine _ .” Drizid snapped, his head jerking back to glare harshly at Scotty. The older man’s eyes widened slightly at the outburst.

“Aye, if ya say so. Just- see the Captain.” Scotty said, then watched as Drizid nodded and walked passed him. Scotty stared at Drizid’s back, wondering what the kid was so made about. 

***

Ironically, Drizid made sure that he was far away from Kirk all day. If he saw him in one hallway, Drizid would go into a different one. He didn’t want to see him. At all. Who the fuck was he to keep him from not doing his job? It’s not like he couldn’t control his emotions. He could. He has. Besides, it’s not like Drizid’s some imcompinante child. He was more than willing to stay on the ship and not be on the landing party if that meant he’d might be able to see his parents, or someone who knew them. But he couldn’t even do that now. Currently, Drizid was on the roof of the Starfleet base, staring out on the endless acres of shuttles that were flying out and into the floor landings. He leaned against the bar railing. Everyone looked so small from up there. And in space, you couldn’t even see them at all. Drizid’s muscles tensed when he heard the roof door open. He did his best not to growl at the voice.

“Nice night. I missed being able to see the stars like this.” Kirk said, his hands clasps behind himself. Drizid was visibly tensed, his shoulder blades making the white shirt wrinkle in the back. It dawned on Kirk like a ton of bricks.

_ ‘He already knows.’ _

“Drizid, I can’t let you-”

“Why?!” Drizid shouted, echoing in the vastness of the rooftop. His hands tightened around the metal bars, slightly denting the steel. “Because ‘I don’t want him to be disappointed if the survivors aren’t his parents’?! That’s your excuse?!”

“Drizid, I know what it’s like to lose a parent, I understand-”

“NO you don’t! You never knew your dad. How the hell can you understand when you have no memories of him?!” There was a line. Drizid jumped over it. 

“... You’re out of line, Ensign.” Kirk said, voice low. “You are to stay on Earth until the mission is complete. Then, we will discuss your attitude when we return.” Drizid kept his eyes on the floor. “Understood, Ensign?”

Drizid didn’t answer.

“I said, understood?” Drizid couldn’t tell if it was anger or sadness in his Captain’s tone. He nodded. Kirk was quick to leave.

Drizid brought one of his hands up to his forearm and dug his nails into the skin. It wouldn’t matter. He’ll heal as soon as the skin opens. Drizid stayed up on the roof for another hour until he walked down. He kept his attention on the floor. If anyone waved at him, he couldn’t see them. He didn’t want to. Why would he say that? To his Captain? God, he’s an idiot. He ran on emotion. It’s obvious. He just fucked up everything. He lost any friendship with Kirk, he knew it. Maybe he should request a transfer. If he was this comfortable in his job, something must be wrong. It took fifteen minutes for Drizid to register that he was outside. He looked at the tall trees in front of him and sighed. He looked around and walked back to the base. It was late, most people should be either asleep or out of the base. Seeing as he’s being housed in it, he’s heading to the dorms. No one from the  _ Enterprise  _ crew was around. At least, that’s what it seemed like.

“Stevens, we’re boarding. I’ve been looking for yo- Stevens?” Damnit. Drizid didn’t bother stop walking, even when he heard Bones’ voice. “Stevens- Stevens, Ensign stop walking, that’s an order.”

Drizid stopped. He knew he was going to snap. He could feel his anger boil. He didn’t know why.

“We’re boarding. C’mon, we have to get to the shuttle.”

“You’re boarding.” Drizid said, and turned his foot so he could face his mentor. “I’m not. Orders from the Captain.”

“What? That’s…” Bones trailed off in confusion, then looked at Drizid. “Why? Are you alright?”

“Why would you care?” Drizid asked, letting out a fake chuckle as if the sentence was a joke. Bones looked even more confused.

“Because I worry about you. Is that a problem?”

“Yeah, well, you’re not my father. Worry about your own kid.” Drizid said with a tight smile. He turned around so that he didn’t see the face his mentor made. He didn’t want to see it. He could hear a sharp intake of breath before Bones walking away. Very fast. Drizid had officially cut two ties with maybe two of the people who really cared for him. Now he really needed to fill out a transfer slip. 

Drizid sat in the dorm room they had given him and watched as the shuttles that were filled with the  _ Enterprise  _ crew. He watched them fly off one by one until all of the shuttles were gone. He was more mad at himself than anything. He insulted two senior officers. Three if you count the snappy interactions with Scotty. He ignored every text and call from Pavel. He watched As Pavel scanned over everyone, before going into the last shuttle. Drizid felt his heart clench. There was no way he could tell Pavel that he was thinking of transferring ships. He couldn’t tell him that he insulted the Captain and Chief Medical on their personal lives. He fucked up. He really fucking fucked up. Drizid felt his stomach twist as the memories replayed in his mind. There was a transfer slip on his P.A.D.D that was fully filled but not sent. Maybe he could patch things up. It’s an out of reach wish, but that doesn’t mean he can’t wish it. Now that he thought about it, it seemed very unlikely that Starfleet would get the rescue call eleven years after the ship supposedly burned up. And it was uncharted space. That wasn’t where the  _ YT Starset  _ was heading. They were rescuing a cargo ship from Klingon space. Gears started to work in Drizid’s head. He opened a new tab on his P.A.D.D and began to look up information on the mission. The uncharted space was five hundred miles away from Klingon space. The  _ YT Starset  _ looked like a military ship. Dark grey and triangular. This ship looked nothing like that. Looked to modern. Drizid recognized the disguise immediately. The only ship that’s able to disguise itself as other ship’s is- 

“A klingon ship.” Drizid whispered to himself in horror.

Drizid shot up from his bed and ran out of his dorm and down into the life and science lab. If he was correct, then the  _ Enterprise  _ was screwed. Klingon technology has advanced gravely. And there are always more ships nearby. Drizid ran into the labs and read everything. Things about how to rebuild a shuttle. He knew that going to the Admiral was a big no, they’d just roll their eyes like it was a joke. He had to do this on his own. Drizid was at a loss. A complete utter loss. He had no way of getting out there. No way of communicating with them. He looked up at a room that was blocked off. It had pentagram shaped sliding doors with a rectangular window that was horizontal. Drizid walked towards the door and peered through the window. On the ground were small pods, big enough to have bodies in them. Drizid stepped back slightly when the doors slid open. No one was around in the lab. Drizid made his way into the mysterious room. He looked into the pods. His suspicions were correct, there were bodies in the pods, laying in frozen air. Drizid stumbled back and fell at the sight. He scrambled to his feet and reached for the P.A.D.D on the wall, giving information on the people in the pods.

**Warning, do not open pods. Inside pods are advanced humans. They are smarter, faster, stronger, over all better than the average human. Do not open pods.**

If they’re smarter than humans, they can help. Drizid bit his lip and glanced back at the black glassy pods. The warning was clear, but he needed help. They can help. And hopefully not murder him. It was a 50/50 shot he had, and he was willing to take it. Dropping the P.A.D.D, he approached one of the pods and peered inside. The man had pitch black hair slicked out of his face and was pale. Pale beyond belief. His cheekbones were prominent and his brows were furrowed, as if he was in thought. Drizid looked from the man to the pod controls, pushing random glowing buttons. He had no idea how they worked. He just needed it to be open. Drizid looked back at the man and saw that the frost on the window was gone. He gulped and stepped back from the pod. The man was extremely familiar. Why? Drizid had never seen him before. Not in person. He walked away from the pod and back to the P.A.D.D from before and back over, scanning the mans face.

**Name: Khan.**

**Age: Unknown.**

**Status: Criminal.**

Drizid froze in place. Here he was, staring up at the most threatening man in the universe, the only thing separating the two was a glass wall. Shakily, Drizid put his hand on the glasshe could feel The coldness from the other side hit his palm. Drizid looked back up at the man’s sleeping face. The half breed fliched back in terror and watched as the face twitched. He stared in fear as the killers eyes snapped open and met Drizid’s pale yellow ones. The glass pane lifted as the man stepped out of the pod and stared Drizid down with electric blue eyes. He glanced over at the Dropped P.A.D.D and back at the shaking boy in front of him.

“You know who I am, yet you set me free.”

“It- it was an accident.” Drizid stammered out, stumbling backwards, trying to get enough space between him and the killer.

“Oh, boiy,” Khan stepped forward and traced Drizid’s face softly before grabbing his neck dangerously tight. Maintaining eye contact with Drizid as he smiled ever so softly. “All accidents happen for a reason.”


End file.
